Celebrity | Glen Innes Examiner

Tyrone Tattersall epitomises the Wellington Cowboys this season. The youngster has improved his game out of sight and is quickly moving up the rankings of elite fullbacks in the Peter McDonald Premiership. Much like the Cowboys have taken their game to another level this season and proved they can deliver when it matters, Tattersall is proving the man for the big occasion. Never was it more true than on Saturday night, when the 19-year-old scored the match-winner in his side's thrilling clash with the Macquarie Raiders. A Harry Kempston penalty inside the final five minutes put the Raiders up 26-24 but in what would have been the Cowboys' final set of the match, Tattersall dummied when all eyes were on Blake Ferguson on his outside and raced through to score in the corner and send the big Kennard Park crowd into raptures. "That's unreal," Tattersall at full-time, before talking about his match-winner. "I don't know. They were all stacking up on Fergo so I thought I'd throw the dummy and go myself. "It ended up working and it was all a blur from there." Tattersall was mobbed by his elated teammates following his try while the sound of car horns rang out around Kennard. "There's no better feeling, winning a game like that," the fullback said. "All the boys are hyped up. The crowd is hyped up and it's great." The Indigenous round match played under lights was a back-and-forth contest across the 80 minutes. The Raiders had won just once prior to Saturday and their captain-coach and prop Jack Kavanagh was hit with a four-week ban on Friday night following an alleged high shot in the Dubbo derby a week prior. Those in blue came out with plenty of motivation and led 10-0 after 11 minutes following tries for Harry Kempston and the impressive Tyson Fuller. Fuller scored after Tattersall spilled a bomb but it didn't rattle the young gun, who scored following a neat offload from Seaun Stanley Jnr just before half-time to get his side back into the contest at 10-6. The feeling was the early stages of the second half would be key and inside the first two minutes, Wellington captain-coach Justin Toomey-White sliced through on the left edge and put Kiyan Shaw over in the corner. The Raiders didn't falter though and a CJ Ralph try and a penalty for Kempston made it 18-12 to Macquarie with less than 20 minutes to go. Just minutes later, the hard-running Ferguson floated across field and drew the defence before putting winger Brian Baxter over and the former NRL star's sideline conversion went in off the post to level it up. The drama was far from over though as the Cowboys lost five-eighth Jai Merritt to a hamstring injury before the sides swapped tries again - Wellington after a brilliant one-on-one steal from Preston Simpson - to leave it 24-all inside the final 10 minutes. With things in the balance, a Stanley Jnr high shot allowed Kempston to give his side the all-important late lead. With time ticking down, Raiders five-eighth Filisione Pauta dribbled one into touch, giving the Cowboys one last chance as they started a set on their own 30m line. They got in range and then Tattersall, who starred for Nyngan's under 18s last season before moving to Wellington to be closer to home, did the rest. "I love it here. The crowd is getting bigger and bigger each game and it's just unreal," he said. "I feel like I'm fitting in well and getting into the groove and everything is sinking in." While Cowboys players and fans came together to celebrate a special Indigenous round win, the Raiders were understandably shattered. The Raiders had try-scoring chances ruled out for a forward pass and a knock-on while there was some on-field debate about whether they should have gone for a try when before Kempston kicked his first penalty to make it 18-12. "That's footy. It definitely hurts," co-captain-coach Alex Ronayne said at full-time. "That's Wello, too. You can't give them a sniff and all credit to them but we just need to keep building. "It sucks being on the losing side but we've got to work hard to get on the winning side." The Raiders remain at the bottom of the Group 11 pool while they also lost winger Pat Connors to a nasty shoulder injury on Saturday and will be without Kavanagh for another three games. "It's very tough," Ronayne added. "We work hard and we do train hard and to lose tonight is hard but all credit to Wellington."

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