RUGBY LEAGUE: According to Queanbeyan Roos captain/coach Aaron Gorrell Saturday's 13-point local derby win had no more significance than any other game, but the Roos seven-game winning streak has branded them as one of the top contenders for the Canberra Raiders Cup.
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The Roos put on a show for their home crowd at Freebody Oval, putting in a close to flawless perform-ance to come away with a 17-4 win and an equal top spot on the ladder with the Blues.
But Gorrell insists their minds are already onto taking out third-placed Goulburn this Sunday, August 2, at Workers Arena.
"[A local derby is] only worth the same amount of points," he said.
"We started well, we were physical and defended pretty well and stuck to our structures- not a lot of sides will be able to stick with us if we do that.
"It's good to beat [The Blues], but it's better to beat them in August."
The Blues were on the ropes early thanks to solid defensive pressure and quality tries from Bryan Cronan, Sekope Meke and Aisea Taholo in the first 20 minutes.
A number of careless turnovers and missed opportunities by the Blues made it all too easy for the home side to stretch out to a 16-0 halftime lead.
Brilliant defence once again in the second half forced a high amount of drop ball and made it difficult for the Blues to breakthrough.
James Woolford came through for the Blues, scoring a try with less than 10 minutes on the clock and an ever so slight whiff of a comeback, but a Jack Miller's field goal with five minutes remaining was the final nail in the coffin for the struggling reigning premiers.
Adam Pearce was a standout for the Roos, Troy Wiley was strong up forward and Sekope Meke was strong on the wing, Gorrell said.
The captain/coach said the Roos will have to bring a top performance if they hope to beat the "title favourites" at Workers Arena on Sunday.
"Goulburn are a quality team with quality players, we beat them earlier in the season, but it's going to be harder playing them in Goulburn. We're going to have to be at our best," he said.
"If we can win this weekend we'll be in the top two, but if we lose we could be third or fourth. It didn't look like we could achieve that at the start of the season and we've really turned things around.
"We're doing enough to keep winning, so we'll just keep plugging away, going about our own business and improving week by week, we'll just take it one week at a time."
Gorrell admitted a top two finish is a team goal, but said the eventual Canberra Raiders Cup winners will have to be at the top of their game.
"No matter what team you are or where you finish, any team can win on the day- no one remembers who the minor premiers were," he said.
"The last month is shaping up to be interesting, but we're not getting carried away, we'll just keep building to where we want to be in August."
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 17 (B Cronan, S Meke, A Taholo tries; J Miller 2 goals; J Miller field goal) bt QUEANBEYAN BLUES 4 (J Woolford try).