Rolling Raiders roll through Wests Tigers to claim their first victory
The Rolling Raiders have recorded their first victory in the NSW Cup Wheelchair Rugby League competition, rolling away with a comprehensive 56-22 victory in front of a large home crowd at Wagga PCYC on Saturday.
It was a tightly fought contest early before the Rolling Raiders pulled away late against a weakened Wests Tigers outfit, led by Australian Wheelaroos captain Brad Grove.
The Raiders opened the scoring through a Brad Burns breakaway try before the Tigers replied through Brad Grove who converted his own try to lock the scores up at 6-all.
The Tigers then hit the lead through some classy ball movement which saw Stephen Rochecouste score.
The Raiders then got a roll on, scoring 5 unanswered tries with Zac Carl scoring three, Burns scoring his second, and the debuting Victoria Simpson crossing the line as well.
Three of the five tries were converted which saw the scores read 32-10 Raiders way early in the second half.
The match turned into a try for try affair, with the Tigers scoring three tries through Grove, Jason Attard and Eddie Morgan, while Burns crossed for two more, which blew out the scores to 42-22 with less than 10 minutes left.
The Rolling Raiders put the game to bed in the closing minutes, going on to score three more, with Burns scoring his fifth, Carl adding his fourth, and Chris O’Brien scoring in his Rolling Raiders debut.
As the final buzzer sounded, the scores read 56-22, marking the Rolling Raiders first victory in their inaugural NSW Cup season.
The Rolling Raiders will look to take this form into the last game of the regular season against the red-hot St George Illawarra Dragons next week at Menai, before they enter their first finals series.
We thank the Wagga community for turning out on Saturday and supporting the Rolling Raiders in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the history of this team.
Rolling Raiders 56
Tries: Brad Burns (5), Zac Carl (4), Victoria Simpson, Chris O’Brien
Conversions: Zac Carl (4), Brad Burns (1), Toby Popple (1)
Wests Tigers 22
Tries: Brad Grove (2), Stephen Rochecouste, Jason Attard, Eddie Morgan
Conversions: Brad Grove (1)
