'We did them proud': Magpies make statement with Roosters mauling

At almost every home game, former players are dotted around the David Taylor Oval. There is a marker celebrating their 100^th anniversary attached to the wall outside their dressing room. And many of their players are sons or daughters of Magpies alum.

So, when they took to the field for yesterday's meeting with the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters, which was also their Old Boys day, Werris Creek's first-graders were fired up.

"It was certainly a massive motivator," Magpies coach Dave Stewart said.

"The old boys laid the foundations for the club, and we certainly respect and look after their efforts. We just hope we've done them proud today."

Producing a 48-12 victory over the second-ranked side in the competition more than likely pleased the former Magpies watching greatly.

It was a stark reversal of the first-round result, where the Roosters got the better of Werris Creek by 14 points.

And even after the hosts took a 10-point lead into the break (thanks to tries from Joash Boney, Cody Tickle, and Ronin Hadden) the result still looked uncertain.

"I said I was proud of the 40 minutes they'd done," Stewart recalled of his half-time address.

"They'd done a lot of hard work. Kooty had their chances with the ball, and we just turned them away - we just worked for each other. We were ruthless, and we were relentless, which is our mantra in the first grade side at the moment."

The coach's supportive words had an emphatic effect on his side. In less than 10 minutes after the break, Werris Creek scored thrice and put the result almost immediately out of reach for the Roosters.

Kootingal-Moonbi were not, however, going to go down without a fight. They eventually struck back through Esava Nadalo, but Werris Creek's defence was too good to allow any further tries.

Given the occasional inconsistency the Magpies have suffered from in recent weeks, it was a particularly impressive performance.

But, Stewart reckoned, their struggle to field a consistent side every week might actually have benefited the team in a roundabout way.

"To be honest, I think not being able to field a [full-strength] side all the time has actually helped the first grade side," Stewart said.

"A lot of opportunities have been given to the reserve grade players, and they've gained benefit out of that, too. They're really starting to come to the fore."