Teenage winger Nelson Young scored his first top-grade hat-trick as Wauchope crushed Taree City 50-16 on Saturday (May 28).
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The 19-year-old scored three of the Blues' nine tries as they built on last week's surprise 14-12 upset win over Port Sharks and moved momentarily into second spot on the Group 3 rugby league ladder.
Wauchope raced in four tries in 11 minutes leading up to half-time.
It saw them turn a 6-4 deficit into an unassailable 26-6 lead at the break after the Bulls momentarily hit the front in the 29th minute.
Blues captain-coach Beau Kettle said it was their little-known backline that played an integral role in the 34-point victory.
"Our two wingers are 19 and one of our centres is 19 as well so they're only young fellas, but they slot straight into our rhythm of what we do," he said.
"Birdy and I like to work with them a lot and they like to listen which is a massive plus."
Experienced left centre Sam Watts scored a double and caused plenty of problems for Taree City's right-edge defence before he succumbed to tight quads early in the second half.
"I don't know how many line breaks Sammy has had this year, but he pulled up a bit sore with his quads so he came off for a rest," Kettle said.
For 30 minutes the luckless Bulls competed, but when the tide turned they were unable to wrestle back any momentum.
Bulls captain-coach Trae Clark lamented the snowball effect that losing was having on his side.
"We're very close in games and then we let in about 20 points in 10 minutes and you can't do that in first grade," he said.
"Clubs have their ups and downs and we've obviously been down for the last couple of years.
"When you're not winning games and you get points scored on you, you think it's going to be the same thing. Confidence goes a long way, mate. When you're confident you can claw your way back you usually do. We've just got to pick our confidence up."
Second-rower Ethan Currey and front-rower Josh Northam tried hard, but they didn't have a lot of support.
"Wauchope have a fit pack so I thought our boys went pretty good, but other than that we got done by 50 so there's not really too many good players I guess," Clark said.
Clark felt his side was capable of a lot more, but their confidence had taken a hit and would only improve through a win.
"A lot of our players have won grand finals or played rep and it's just together collectively our confidence is down at the moment so we get one try scored against us and we think the game's over," he said.
"The good teams like Wauchope keep playing for the full 80 and play until the last minute and it shows."
Wauchope Blues 50 (Nelson Young 3, Sam Watts 2, Tyrell Scott, Zac Colemane, Mat Bird, Beau Kettle tries; Sam Watts 1/2, Ethan McKenna 6/7 goals) defeated Taree City 16 (Jayden Boorer, Ethan Currey, Josh Northam tries; Logan Wallis 2/3 goals).
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