Notching their first win against the Leeton Greens last Friday night, the Diesels became the surprise packet of the tournament.

They defeated the Greens 22-6 before squeezing past Yenda 10-8 and then Wagga Kangaroos 6-4.

Junee faced the powerhouse Goulburn Workers Club Bulldogs in the grand final, going down 12-6.

Captain-coach Matt Hands said the team “exceeded expectations”.

“It’s very pleasing to get to where we did, we went over there to do well,” he said.

Hands said the attitude of the team was great – focusing on defence.

“We didn’t have a bad player, but our attack was pretty ordinary,” Hands said.

Having a solid defence in place was more important to Hands who said the team’s attack would improve with more games.

“We won games through defence and hanging in there,” he said.

“We’ve got our foundation there with our defence, the attack will come over the year.”

Hands said the local players played a huge role in the game matching the effort put in by the club’s marquee signings.

“All our new signings were fantastic, I couldn’t fault any of them – they bring a lot of class to the side,” Hands said.

He highlighted Pat Guthrie who recently returned from overseas.

“It was his first games of footy for a while, he was brilliant,” Hand said.

He credited Trent Field, Conner McCauley and Cameron Hands who stepped up from under 18s to play first grade.

“They were playing against Goulburn (who have) a few ex-NRL players, they were a very good football side,” Hands said.

“They’ve (Goulburn) been training a little bit longer and had a bit of a fitness edge.”

The Diesels will be working on their own fitness over the next two weeks before heading to the Cootamundra Nines on March 14.

Hands said the club’s first official trial is set down for March 21.

The Junee Diesels are hosting a golf day on Saturday, March 7 from 8am, with players and supporters welcome.

To attend contact Noreen Deacon on 6924 2137 or Mark Halliburton on 0420 310 249.