Group 20 rugby league
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A RAMPANT Waratah Tigers outfit put Leeton to the sword at EW Moore Oval on Saturday night, coming away with a 42-14 victory.
The Greens were never in the hunt as the Tigers showed a new season can wipe away the sins of the previous.
However, that was just the tip of the iceberg for Leeton with news that coach Franky Fiumara will miss the season having done his knee good and proper against Albury the week before in a trial game.
Fiumara found out late last week he had not only ruptured his ACL, but torn his medial ligament as well.
This "worst news possible" topped off a bad few days for the club as the bigger Waratah Tigers ran rampant over a makeshift Greens outfit.
"That was a bad day at the office," Fiumara said about his team's on-field performance.
"We started pretty good, but when they scored they were pretty hard to stop and they kept coming at you.
"I also ran out of troops about 10 minutes into the second half.
"At that stage it looked like we were coming back, then I lost a couple of people. They scored a couple of tries and then ran amok."
Leeton had three try-scorers - Sam Eisenhut, Kolo Lomu and Andrew Lavaka, with Brad McDonell kicking one conversion.
Fiumara said there were positives to come from the game.
"The whole team had a crack, they never put their head down once," he said.
"When you get a hiding like that, it is good to see.
"I know the score was 42 points, but they scored those tries from our mistakes.
"When we defended, we defended well.
"Attitude is a big thing.
"With a full side on deck, with the right attitude you start winning games.
After a week off for Easter, the Greens will face West Wyalong, although the team make-up will change.
Fiumara will have surgery on his knee as soon as possible, but he is keeping positive about that and the team's performance.
"It can't get any worse than this," he said. "I'm sure we'll be right. It is a matter of getting all the boys back on deck and we just need to be careful of injuries."
Results
Waratah Tigers 42 (tries - Solomone Filimoehala 4, Chris Tomi 2, Enoch Tia, John Lolohea; con - Chris Tomi 5) d Leeton 14 (tries - Sam Eisenhut, Kolo Lomu, Andrew Lavaka; con - Brad McDonell)
Reserve grade
Waratah Tigers 28 (tries - Jonothan Morris, Christian Kepu 3, Fili Fili; con - Willi Lolohea, Fili Fili) drew with Leeton 28 (tries - Phil Hanby 2, Sam McGrath 2, Brad Woolner; con - Phil Hanby 4)
Under 18s
Leeton 24 (tries - Billy Dickinson, Billy Gilbert 2, Rhys Wilesmith; con - Billy Dickinson 4) d Waratah Tigers 22 (tries: Lucas Innes, Codey Parsons, Glen Buerkner, Emilio Lale; con - Codey Parsons 3)
Under 16s
Waratah Tigers d Leeton on forfeit.