RUGBY LEAGUE
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RUGBY LEAGUE
A depleted Illawarra Cutters delivered one of their best performances of the season to outlast Wentworthville 30-22 at WIN Stadium on Saturday.
After a horror first half in a loss to the Bulldogs last week, the Cutters shot out of the blocks to lead 20-0 after 25 minutes before second-half tries to Blake Wallace and Chris Lewis sealed the win.
With the Dragons battling an injury crisis at NRL level, the Cutters were forced to call on several part-timers and they delivered with Wallace, who was close to best on ground, Lewis and Eli Roberts all among their best while veterans Russell Packer and Heath L'Estrange were both instrumental to the victory with 80-minute efforts.
Coach Scott Logan said his side had planned on tapping into the enthusiasm of those called up.
"We had a decent reality check during the week and knew we had a lot of guys who were new to the squad and hadn't played a game," Logan said.
"We banked on the fact that we could build a bit of energy out of that and change our attitude in defence from last week which we really got.
"We talked about our first set with the ball and without ... we made a statement there. We kept it simple in the first half, we punched out of our end well and our commitment to 'D' was excellent.
"It wasn't pretty at times, there wasn't a lot of flashy plays that won the game. It was more our commitment in both areas, denting the line and generating a bit of ruck speed and our effort in defence."
The Cutters led 4-0 after eight minutes when Roberts crossed out wide and extended their lead six minutes later when Wallace burrowed his way across for a 10-0 scoreline.
The home side stretched the lead to 16-0 when Kayne Brennan finished off a break from Wallace and had a 20-point buffer when Junior Vai Vai latched on to an intercept and strode 80 metres to score.
Wentworthville hit back with tries to Vai Toutai and Ryan Matterson to cut the lead to 20-12 at the break.
Lewis' try six minutes after the resumption took the score to 24-12 before two tries to Halauafu Lavaka gave the Magpies a sniff at 24-22.
Wallace's second try five minutes from time iced the game for the Cutters.