Woodbridge Cup corner: Judiciary gripes and Manildra's 'wake-up call'

The only debate happening prior to the June 4 clash between the Eugowra Golden Eagles and Manildra Rhinos should have been whether or not the home side was going to get mercy-ruled.

But after 80 minutes of action in the first grade contest, teams found themselves deadlocked at 26-all.

The draw was the first blemish on the Rhinos season up until now and it was the first point the Golden Eagles had secured through seven games. A true David and Goliath showing.

Although Manildra were down a few players, coach Ben McAlpine took nothing away from the home side's performance.

"The team we put on paper should have done the job, but they were just a better team overall," he said.

"From their perspective, it was great. They turned up physically, they out-smarted us, kicked long and they did everything right.

"Football is about that. Even if you don't have the most talented team on the field, you're more than likely going to compete if you do those things."

While the draw does away with any first grade side's shot at a perfect season - with fellow undefeated team Condobolin having drawn with Orange United the week prior - it was the shot in the arm that McAlpine thought they needed.

"We were a bit complacent and made a lot of mistakes and it's not the team that we usually are," he added.

"I'm happy it's happened now. We've got three of the top teams coming up in the next few weeks, so it was the wake-up call we needed. We'll get stuck in at training and try to get better from here."

As for how this impacts the competition forward, it's just nice to see that during a season where big blowouts have been a regular occurrence, that upsets can still happen.

"It is good to see in a way, although maybe it would have been better if it wasn't against us," McAlpine added.

"But it shows that on your day, most teams can beat anyone."

For those of you who follow the Woodbridge Cup, our story about an off-the-field incident involving players from Peak Hill and Trundle during their round five clash is old news.

For those of you unaware, NSWRL launched an investigation following the May 20 clash at Linder Oval and said both clubs were cooperating with the investigation. They added that no specific details would be provided until an outcome was decided.

It has now been more than two weeks since the incident occurred and although players were put on report, we are no closer to a decision being made on possible suspensions, or even where it sits in the decision-making process.

Although we understand the Woodbridge Cup is not the NRL, or even the Peter McDonald Premiership - where games are filmed and therefore evidence is easier to find - it still seems ridiculous that clubs, players and fans have had to wait this long to find out what officially happened.

It's not fair for Peak Hill or Trundle to have charges looming over their head, with speculation all that can happen until a final decision is made.

It's not fair for the players involved who - as far as we're aware in at least one case - have had to miss games without being found guilty of anything - and it's not a good way to grow the game in the bush.

As early as midday on Monday, a full report of NRL judiciary charges had been released to the public on the NRL's website.

We're not expecting the same for clubs in the bush, but how there isn't a publicly available list where fans of the game can search for sanctions from Griffith to Grenfell is beyond me.

And for those wondering, as of publication, we are still waiting on a judiciary result from the Peak Hill-Trundle game. When we know, you'll know.

Each week we will take a look at which teams have been lighting up the first grade and league tag competitions, alternating between the two.

For those unfamiliar with a power ranking ladder, it's similar to your conventional standings, except it's completely subjective and based on who we think is in the best form, regardless of their points total.

Having missed last week's rankings and with a general bye coming up, we thought we'd give you double dose of both first grade and league tag.

First grade:

League tag:

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