Sport
30 May, 2026
Redbacks back with bragging rights
BOTH Wedderburn and Boort went into their clash at Donaldson Park last Saturday with the same focus – start the game well.
BOTH Wedderburn and Boort went into their clash at Donaldson Park last Saturday with the same focus – start the game well.
As it turned out, the Redbacks won the bragging rights with a five goals to two first quarter, setting up an eventual 73-point win.
Magpies coach Andrew Rutley bemoaned another poor start to a game.
“We have been chasing from behind, and we wanted to get a lead to get the players up and about and confident,” he said. “So it wasn’t the ideal start.”
Wedderburn led by 37 points at half-time and by 44 points at the final change, but Rutley felt his team was still in the game with a chance of leaving with a win rather than an honourable defeat.
However, the Redbacks poured on another six goals to Boort’s one in that final term. “They just blew us out of the water – our pressure was poor,” Rutley lamented.
Wedderburn coach Tom Metherell said the return of ruckman Tyler Curtis gave his side first use in the midfield, but his greatest praise was reserved for the backline.
“We’re very stingy,” he said. “I reckon we have only conceded 100 points once in the time I have been there.”
Metherell started with the Redbacks in 2024, so that statistic speaks to the depth that Wedderburn has in defence.
He said the squad had 10 players who could slot into the back six, with veteran Danny Benaim, who played his first game for the season, among them.
Boort is only two games out of the top four despite being winless in 2026, and the team faces a season-defining stretch of games in the next month.
The seventh-placed Magpies play St Arnaud – one spot above them on the ladder – this week before the league-wide bye for King’s Birthday.
Then follow bottom of the ladder Charlton and fifth-placed Donald, with Rutley optimistic that Boort will be 3-5 and pushing for that fourth spot and the finals berth he still considers to be within reach.
Wedderburn has a challenge on Saturday when it hosts top side Sea Lake Nandaly, the only other unbeaten team in the North Central league. Metherell declared himself “very confident” that the Redbacks could win and sit alone at the top after six rounds.
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