During their season-defining clash with CSU, the Mudgee Wombats will be cheered on by their returning heroes as it’s Old Boys Day at The Burrow on Saturday.
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After starting the season with three consecutive losses, the Batties have gone 2-1 in the last three weeks and look to push themselves into the top four with a win against CSU Bathurst.
The students’ solitary victory came against Mudgee as they won the game with a penalty goal after the buzzer, so there’s an element of revenge motivating Greg Horton’s New Holland Agriculture Cup side for its special evening time slot.
“It was a fairly devastating loss so the boys are keen to put that right this week,” Horton said. A win against CSU would cap off an excellent month for the resurgent Batties as they’re looking to make a fortress out of Jubilee Oval.
“The way the competition is at the moment, home ground is a big advantage for any team,” he said. “It’s obviously a really important game for us. We’ve won our last two home games but last week was very disappointing (at Narromine). “To come back home and bounce back after last week is the key for us.”
There’s an adage that says ‘you either win or you learn’ and the round 2 loss at Bathurst taught Horton a lot about his side but even more about the strengths of Saturday’s opposition.
“Their backs were their strength. They were quick and they were keen to throw it around,” he said. “We need to make sure our defense in the backline is strong and that’s something we’ve been working on for the last few weeks.”
“It will be a good test for the backs and we’re hoping our forwards continue to be a strength and we can gain a good bit of possession on the back of them.” Saturday’s event is part of a two-game agreement with CSU that will see the Wombats top tier side play a night game at Bathurst next time the teams lock horns.
As for this weekend’s event, Horton says it’s come on the back of the club’s creativity. “The committee has been really keen to do a few different things this year he said. “We’ve got the girls and the juniors playing as well on Saturday.” KICK-OFF TIMES: Juniors from 9.30am, Women’s 3.15pm, second grade 4pm, first grade 5.30pm. All the action is at Jubilee Oval.