THE Waratahs could be without second-rower Andrew Lavaka for his side’s clash against Leeton this weekend, after being sent off against Hay last round.
Referee Mark Culla said Lavaka had delivered an elbow to the head of Magpie fullback Pat Miller, that left the custodian down for several minutes.
The dismissal of Lavaka was followed soon after with the sin-binning of Waratahs five-eighth Joshua Charles for abusing the referee.
The absence of both players had no effect on the outcome of the game with Waratahs outscoring the Magpies 10-4 when the team was down to just 11 men.
Waratahs ended up winners 38-14 after holding a 16-10 break at half-time.
Former Yenda stars, Andrew Lavaka and Viliami Ngu had good matches before Lavaka was given an early shower and Ngu scored a brace of tries just before half-time, and another in the second half was a star for the visitors.
The Magpies hit back with two well put-together tries to grab a 10-6 lead midway through the first half, the first to the replacement winger who latched onto a Shayne Kennedy pass to cross in the corner.
Almost immediately, Mitch Rosser was on hand to
complete a good passage of play between the Kennedy brothers which featured inter-passing before Rosser, backing up, scooted into the clear.
The try may have been fortunate as the pass from Damian Kennedy to Shayne looked yards forward – but the team has learned to take the good with the bad.
A frustrating error from the kick-off gifted possesion back to the Waratahs, and Ngu took full advantage to cross.
Just two minutes later he was in again and Waratahs grabbed the lead 16-10.
Straight after the break, Tigers coach Enoch Tia used his bulk to score the first of his double and stretch his teams lead to 20-10.
Shayne Kennedy gave the Magpies good field position with two 40-20 kicks, but on each occasion, the ball was gifted back through loose handling.
Craig Millan, Harley Hey and David Steedman were very strong against a bigger pack, Millan in particular had his best game of the season.
Hay proved more than a handful for the Waratah centres, and his powerful leg drive put the side on the front foot.
Waratahs added further tries to winger Emosi Talemagau, hooker Jarrod Williams and another to Tia, before Lloyd Schulz crossed for a try in the dying moments.
Jermaine Dixon took things quietly in his first game in six weeks, but started producing glimpses of his good form late in the match and will be better for the outing.
Magpies were best served by Craig Millan, Lloyd Schulz, Mitch Rosser, Dave Steedman while Waratah Tigers had good performances from Viliami Ngu, Enoch Tia, and Andrew Lavaka.
