Following weeks of frustrating losses, Macquarie Raiders have finally broken through for a win that one of their captain-coaches believes could kick start their season.
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The Raiders grabbed their second win of the Peter McDonald Premiership (PMP) season on Sunday afternoon, defeating Parkes Spacemen 22-6 at Apex Oval.
Macquarie's forward pack were exceptional against a much bigger Parkes cohort and co-captain/coach Jack Kavanagh believes there is a lot more still to come.
"We've got a team full of competitors who compete for everything," he said.
"When we get our full-strength team on the field, I honestly think when we come into the next rounds there won't be a team that competes with us."
It was all about Macquarie centre Tyson Fuller early on, with the impressive outside back opening the scoring for the Raiders before pulling off a one-on-one strip to run away with a second try.
"He has been one our best pickups," Kavanagh said of Fuller.
"Every game he puts and has a crack."
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A successful Harry Kempston conversion gave the Raiders a 10-0 lead heading into half time after a physical opening 40 minutes.
Coming out of the half, Macquarie lost hooker Richie Peckham to a shoulder injury which allowed Dalin Smith more time on the field and he made the most of it.
Smith darted over just seven minutes into the second half to extend Macquarie's lead to 16-0, following another successful conversion.
There were more injury worries for Macquarie as Colt Ure went down with a leg injury, and was removed from the field via a stretcher.
After challenging Macquarie's try line defence for an extended period, Parkes finally broke through through Will Wardle before Chad Porter's conversion reduced the deficit.
A late converted Charlie Kempston try sealed the win for Macquarie, a victory which keeps them in touch with the Group 11 top four heading into a two-week break for the Raiders.
The Raiders have been on the receiving end of tough losses so far in 2023 and Kavanagh couldn't wipe the smile off his face when discussing Macquarie's performance.
"It's a good feeling, every week we've been working towards playing like that and that's the footy that we know we can play," he said.
"We completed our sets and everyone played to their full ability."
For Parkes, their captain-coach Porter felt his side just lacked motivation at times during the fixture.
"We just weren't up to today and that's what happens," he said.
"They played good and completed good but we just weren't up for it."
Jack Buchanan was tough up front for the visitors, taking it to the Macquarie pack all game and didn't hesitate to fire a bit of sledging at the Raiders either.
Having played the whole match at front row, Porter believes they are a much better side than what they produced.
"He does that normally week in and week out but I don't know what happened to us," he said.
"We were missing a few blokes but that is no excuse, we just weren't there and deserved to get beat."
MACQUARIE RAIDERS 22 (Tyson Fuller 2, Charlie Kempston, Dalin Smith tries; Harry Kempston 3 conversions) defeated PARKES SPACEMEN 6 (Will Wardle try; Chad Porter conversion)
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