Cover Photo Credit: Jenna Adams

By Tallon Smith

The Tumbarumba Greens have retained leadership of the Goulburn Murray Premiership after a 30-10 win over previously undefeated newcomers the Shepparton Eagles to remain a perfect five from five this season.

After spending four years on their deathbed in recess, the Greens have re-emerged as one of the hottest teams in country footy to start the 2024 season under the tutelage of Dave Drew and former Group 9 star Robbie Byatt, as they look to emulate the feats of their 2019 side which won the title before the club went into hibernation.

In that time, the region has seen a pandemic and was ravaged by the Black Summer bushfires, making the club’s triumphant return to the playing field all the more remarkable.

Tumbarumba RLFC President Ray Lynch said that the win over the Eagles was a massive one for the team and the club, with a dedicated group of locals behind the stunning renaissance for the ‘Green Machine’.

“It was a fantastic win,” he said. 

“The score itself doesn’t reflect how tough the game was, the Shepparton side, I take nothing from them guys.

“They’re a very tough side, very big, very physical, probably one of the biggest teams I’ve seen in a competition.

“But our boys stood up, took the punishment, and really put on a performance that, as a president, I’m very proud of.”

When asked about the side’s confidence levels, the President of the ‘Green Machine’ said the side is staying grounded after their perfect five from five start, with the team taking a positive mindset into all games.

“Whether we won or lost, it’s only round five, that’s [the mindset] we sort of took on, so they’re very grounded at the moment,” Lynch said.

“[We’ve] got this mixture of very young to some very older blokes, in the last two weeks we’ve had two [players] join our ranks, they’re 17-year-old, both of them.

“[They’re] fantastic players, and to come into yesterday playing against blokes that they played against and to put up that fight was fantastic. 

“[They’re looking] forward to the rest of the year, that team [Shepparton] is definitely gonna be there come finals, [and] there’s a couple of other sides that are [doing well], the CSU is starting to grab a bit of momentum, [and] so is Corowa, [who] we play this weekend. 

“But [we’re] not a massive team, they’re just a team of good young and older blokes.”

As for the future of the game in Tumbarumba, Lynch said that the numbers and courage shown across both Men’s and Women’s grades has been cause for great optimism in the region.

“It started with the girls last year, they had a group of good young girls and women, and they’re still going good this year,” he said.

“They had nine that aren’t in the team this year [and] they’re struggling a little bit, but they’re still holding their own.

“[They] more or less made a platform for the guys to [return to the competition, and] we try and get all the blokes there watching the games, the women’s game and vice versa. 

“So it’s really them laying a platform for our guys to then come on in the next game and do what we’ve got to do to play good footy, which both teams are doing.”

Earlier in the day, the Tumbarumba women held Shepparton to a 4-all draw, while in other League Tag games Wangaratta beat Border 38-0, Wolfpack defeated Wodonga 28-0 and CSU scored a 40-0 victory over Corowa.

In Men’s games around the grounds, Wangaratta defeated Border, Wolfpack beat Wodonga and CSU were victorious over Corowa, all by the same margin of 24-18.

Originally published as ‘Riverina club rises from the ashes to start season a perfect five from five‘