Cover Photo: Eden Tigers RLFC

By Tallon Smith

The Eden Tigers have made a massive statement in the 2024 Group 16 Premiership, defeating the Snowy River Bears 52-10 in a top of the table showdown at George Brown Oval on Sunday.

Led by four tries to centre Rhyse Grewar, the Tigers dominated the match from the get go, racing in nine four-pointers to two in a strong display of their premiership credentials.

Tigers Captain-Coach Blake Robinson said that his side were prepared for a physical battle against their fellow competition leaders coming into the match, but were surprised at how quickly they were able to establish dominance.

“Coming up against Jindabyne, they’ve got a big pack,” he said.

“We just thought we needed to start strong and get on top of them early and win the ruck, but we received off the kickoff and scored in the first set, so that was a bit of an eye opener.

“That sort of set the platform from the get go, and we just stayed on top for the majority of that first half.”

After a couple of great seasons with disappointing finishes over the past couple of years, including a Minor Premiership followed by a straight sets exit last season, Robinson believes if they maintain their form, the Tigers can go that one step further in 2024.

“[We’ve] just been taking [it] week by week and game by game, but I think where we’re at as a footy side, if we can play to our strengths, the results should hopefully take care of themselves and come our way,” he said.

“At the moment, we’ve just played everyone, that’s the first game that we’ve played against Jindabyne, and Merimbula-Pambula, we played them the week before. 

“We were equal first with Jindabyne and Merimbula was sitting third, so they’re probably the two teams that I’d be most concerned about, but then again, you’ve got Tathra and Moruya that are sort of dark horses. 

“Tathra, they’ve come from fourth to make the Grand Final I think in the last two or three years, so I wouldn’t write them off. 

“[Snowy River’s] captain-coach didn’t play today, which would obviously add a massive boost to their side, but yeah I think there’s a few teams that [have] got players that are out.

“We had our injuries mid year, which now they’re all sort of coming back, which sort of gives us a good run into the finals with a full strength side.”

As for the Tigers’ top performer on the day, Robinson said he couldn’t go past his four try hero at centre, but also praised the efforts of his back three.

“We’ve got a center on our left edge, Rhyse Grewar, today [he] was an absolute beast [and scored] four tries,” he said.

“Our back three [as well], they’ve been massive for us the last couple of weeks, just getting us out of trouble, doing the dirty work.”

Moving to other results from a big weekend of football in Group 16, Tathra got the bragging rights in a local derby with Bega 30-16, Moruya defended their home turf with a 34-18 win over Cooma, and Merimbula-Pambula kept their premiership defence rolling against Bombala with a 52-6 victory, while Batemans Bay had the bye.