It was a pleasing outcome for coach, Snow Brien, who said the Redbacks needed the 37-19 win following a challenging opening two rounds against the competition’s benchmark teams.

“It was a bit of an unknown [heading into the match], we hadn’t seen anything of Yeoval but the stars aligned – there’s a lot of camaraderie and it was in front of a really good crowd,” he said. 

Wellington opened the scorecard with a penalty goal minutes into the match, the early lead soon extended through a spectacular runaway try on the back of an intercept by man of the match, Mitchell Brien. 

“That might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Brien said. “I wouldn’t say Yeoval gave up but that was a really great start against the run of play which helped us lift another gear.”

The points kept on coming for Wellington with another try to Brien who put in a standout performance on the day.

“Mitch is one of the older boys back after a couple of years away from the game,” Brien said.

“He did what he had to do and broke Yeoval’s defensive line with a couple of good runs, muscled up in defence and in the back in outside centre.

“It was a really good game for Mitch, he took the game by the scruff of the neck on Saturday and it shows in what he achieved.”

Despite a determined effort by Yeoval the visitors weren’t able to hold out the Redbacks who secured their first win for the season.

“Yeoval scored a couple of good tries against us, turned the ball back inside which opened us up right up the middle,” Brien said.

“They were good opposition, great bunch of blokes and everything was played in the right spirit.”

Points on the day went to Mac Tierney (3), Mitch Brien (2) and Darcy Tierney (1).

“Mac had a good all round game – a good defensive flanker at breakaway, runs the ball well and is coming back from major injury after two or three years on the sideline,” Brien said.

“Darcy is a little halfback, his defensive work... other teams look at him and think they’ll run over this little fella but he just doesn't let them in.

“His defensive style... if he doesn't grab them around the knees it’s around the ankles, he takes them down every time. His defensive capabilities are second to none for a small man.” 

On behalf of the club Brien thanked the 30-year Colds runion members, and Old Boys, for their support over the weekend. He also extended appreciation to major sponsors, The Lion of Waterloo, for their support. 

Three rounds into the competition and Brien said the results have given himself and co-coach Paul McCarroll an indication of the team’s potential. 

“We still think Molong and Geurie are the benchmarks so we’re really confident moving forward now we can give it a good shake because we have a lot of improvement to come and we get the right combinations on the paddock and keep everyone fit we’re very confident we can have a very good year,” he said.

Next game at Coonabarabran on May 5.