By Tallon Smith

The Gundagai Tigers have returned to the Group 9 top five with a 28-8 win over the Albury Thunder at Greenfield Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers dominated for the vast majority of the match, successfully warding off a first half challenge from the Thunder to ensure their trip down the Hume was a successful one.

Gundagai crossed first through halfback Derek Hay, before two tries to the Thunder courtesy of Keanau Wighton and Jackins Olam put the Thunder ahead 8-6 midway through the half.

However, in a crucial moment in the match, Gundagai winger Tarron Makeham crossed in the corner on the stroke of half-time to put the Tigers ahead 12-6.

From here, The Tigers coasted home, putting on 16 unanswered points in the second half to win the match 28-8, with Wilson Hamblin, Tyron Gorman and Jack Schubert the tryscorers for the Tigers.

The win keeps Gundagai’s premiership defence alive, with the Tigers coming into the round needing the victory in a match which held a crucial four-point swing to the victory.

Tigers Halfback and Assistant Coach Derek Hay said the win was “massive” for the club.

“We never usually win in Albury, I think it’s been seven or eight years since we’ve actually won down here,” he said.

“To come down here and win today after getting smoked at home last week by 40 was a credit to the boys.

“It all came down to our defence, they scored two tries off of kicks today, and I don’t think they made one linebreak.

“I’m stoked with the effort.”

When asked if last year’s draw with the Thunder, which cost the club the Clayton Cup (which was won by Scone), was a factor, Hay said that it was definitely known within the playing group.

“It was definitely mentioned at the end of last year,” he said.

“That draw, they reckon, cost us the Clayton Cup, which is obviously the best team in bush footy.

“So that was a disappointment.”

Hay also spoke of the tough encounters which the Albury v Gundagai ‘Battle of the Hume’ rivalry has become known for.

“Any time we come down here we know what we’re gonna get,” he said.

“It’s always a tough contest, two years ago we were up 18-0 and got beat 20-18, and then obviously we had that [26-all] draw last year.

“So to do that today is really special.”

Gundagai interchange forward Joe Bromage echoed the sentiments of his skipper in speaking of the enormity of the win.

“It was good, especially after last week’s loss to the Roos,” he said.

“To come out there and put in the performance we did today, it was a good sign heading into the back end of the year.”

Regarding the noise surrounding the defending premiers’ first half of the year, Bromage said there was definitely pressure on the team coming into the match in Albury.

“Especially being so close to being out of the five, we knew that we have to start to put some wins together,” he said.

“We were under the pump a bit, it was a tough week at training, [but] the boys showed up today which was good.

“So hopefully this will put us in good stead coming into the latter end of the year.”

On the other hand, Albury Coach Justin Carney was  disappointed with the result, despite the team’s struggles with injury sidelining more than half the starting side.

“We’re missing nine out of our top side, so it was always going to be a tough game,” he said.

“They were just the better team today, that’s footy.”

Carney also spoke about his approach to managing the season with all of the outside noise and expectation surrounding the club, who were expected to strongly contend for the premiership in 2023.

“I don’t really look at that [the premiership race], I just take it week by week,” he said.

“I’m just thinking [about] Young next week.”

“I think just getting players on the paddock [will help], the rest will take care of itself.”

Albury Fullback Ty Fletcher said the performance was “disappointing” but believes the Thunder are still in with a chance despite the difficult run home.

“It was pretty disappointing, especially because we needed the two points just to stay in finals contention,” he said.

“It puts us in a pretty bad place, we have the three remaining games just to sneak in.”

Fletcher said the muddy and wet conditions were tough to play in, especially for a side that thrives off of expansive, fast-paced footy.

“It was pretty tough, quite slippery,” he said.

“It was hard to play our kind of footy, to throw the ball around.

“It made the passes just that little bit slower, which ran us out of room in attack, and was quite frustrating.”

Regarding the trip to Young, Fletcher said the onus is upon the team to lift in what will be a must-win encounter if the side is to make finals.

“We’re gonna have to respond well,” he said.

“Young are a good side, if we don’t bring out a-game, they can put plenty of points on very quickly.

“We’re just gonna have to show up with whoever we’ve got, ready to play.”

Whilst the Thunder travel to Young, the Tigers will face Temora at home next weekend in another crucial encounter for the Black and Golds.

In other Group 9 results, the Wagga Kangaroos defeated the Young Cherrypickers 30-18 on Sunday at McDonald’s Park to maintain fifth spot and also retain the Group 9 Challenge Cup in the process. The competition favourites to start the season, Nathan Rose’s men have finally gathered some momentum in these past few weeks and seem to be hitting their straps at the right time as the season turns into the home straight.

Meanwhile, at Nixon Park on Saturday, the Temora Dragons accounted for Tumut 28 points to 10, to join the Blues and the Cherrypickers in first place on the competition table. This result means no side has a record better than 6-3 with five rounds to play.

Lower Grade Highlights

Meanwhile, in Reserve Grade, the struggling Wagga Brothers have finally won a game, defeating the Junee Diesels 30-6 to regain the Rick Keast Memorial Shield.

After dropping out of First Grade to field just a Reserves side, it was somewhat irrationally feared that the Brothers may dominate like the Diesels did last season and start a trend of clubs dropping down to just play in the Second Grade, however this has not eventuated, with the club still running last on points differential after round 11.

As a keen rugby league fan, it was great to see the Brothers finally break the drought, and I’m sure Junee could definitely resonate with this sentiment given their breakthrough in their return season in First Grade last week.

Sunday’s League Tag game at Albury was also worthy of noting, after a climactic finish saw the Thunder clinch a 13-12 win over the Tigers courtesy of a field goal to halfback Michaela Peck.

The Thunder led 12-6 with around 7 minutes to go, before the Tigers crossed for a try to Monique Luff. Tigers kicker Abbey Flanagan then stepped up and nailed a conversion from wide out to tie the game at 12 all.

Enter Peck, whose 30-plus metre shot sailed over the bar, sending Greenfield Park into raptures and etching her name into Thunder folklore. 

Peck said she was “thrilled” to kick the match winning field goal, which fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“I have been playing rugby league since I was nine, and I have never had the opportunity to win a game like that,” she said.

“I knew I had let a few tries in, so I was thrilled to ensure we got the win.”

Peck, like Fletcher, also spoke of the conditions, which began to really deteriorate during the league tag encounter.

“To be honest the conditions were pretty gross, but that’s what you play footy for sometimes,” she said.

“The field was heavy, but I thought our execution was decent considering.”

Regarding the Thunder girls’ charge towards the Group 9 League Tag Finals, Peck said that she believes the side will be there and thereabouts come the end of the season.

“I reckon the side will go decent into finals,” she said.

“I have found that we never give up.

“Sometimes you don’t need fancy footy to win games, but [rather] a bit of grit and the will to do it for your team mates.

“Having that enables us to win the tight games.”

In Round 12 of Group 9 action, the aforementioned clashes between Albury and Young and Gundagai and Temora feature alongside a Wagga Derby between Kangaroos and South City at Harris Park, while Tumut will travel to Laurie Daley Oval to tackle Junee.

Gundagai winger Tarron Makeham scores in the corner on the stroke of half-time in Saturday’s encounter with Albury.