Cover Photo: Zac Lomax kicks off for the Dragons against Liam Martin’s Panthers

By Tallon Smith

Three weeks on from one of the greatest triumphs in the history of State of Origin rugby league, people in the moderately sized town of Temora in the Riverina region of NSW continue to go about their daily business.

Their local team, the Dragons, are coming off a 28-22 come from behind victory over Albury in the Group 9 competition in their last start, and spirits are high as the side sits in second place as they attempt to end a 18-year premiership drought.

However, while life might seem to be going as normal in ‘The Friendly Shire’, on the inside, many Temora locals are still buzzing after an epic State of Origin series.

Not only did their state end its own 19-year drought to finally claim a decider in Brisbane, but three of the stars in the starting side were locals, born in Temora District Hospital in a three year period stretching from 1996-1999.

Sure Liam Martin may hail from Barmedman, equidistant from Temora and the town where he went to high school, West Wyalong, and Angus Crichton may be really a Young local who moved to Sydney at a young age, but the locals are more than happy to claim them anyway.

Temora Junior Rugby League President Dean Guymer said that the town’s pride in their Origin stars is only matched by their passion for the game itself.

“We’re obviously very proud and we love our rugby league down here,” he said.

“The junior and senior clubs have got a really close relationship and we work well together and we sort of help each other out. 

“[We] try and give our local kids aspirations of at least playing for the Temora Dragons [Seniors], and everyone sort of wants that, which is why they’ve been so strong for years. 

“It’s pretty hard to compete with bigger towns with bigger budgets and that sort of thing to buy players, [so we] rely on developing our own players and we’ve been pretty successful with that.”

Temora’s sporting prowess is nothing new, and while nearby Wagga Wagga may proclaim their ‘Wagga effect’, the town’s much smaller population produces a perhaps more impressive CV, with a dozen NRL players and two AFL premiership winners hailing from the district, as well as the Danihers, also of Aussie Rules fame, spending some of their formative footballing years at Ariah Park, located in Temora Shire.

The momentous occasion for the town is not lost on Guymer however, with the achievement of having two bona-fide local juniors in Martin and Lomax playing in the same team at the game’s highest level truly incredible. 

“To have one player play State of Origin in a lifetime is amazing, but to have two at the same time out of one little community is just a testament to their drive and how much hard work they’ve put in, as well as the support they get from our town,” he said.

“We’re a [footy] mad town obviously, and we’re overrun with pride to be honest, it’s just it’s an amazing achievement to have [three] players that level like out of 17 or 18 people that get picked to play, it’s pretty amazing.”

However, much like many towns, Temora is facing a challenge to keep their junior production line operating, with the Dragons unable to field both Under 16s and Under 18s teams this year for the first time in recent memory.

Guymer said the Seniors’ decision to withdraw from the two underage competitions was made after consultation with the Junior club, with the focus now on ensuring the Under 15s move into the Under 16s, which will become part of the Junior setup next year.

“Together with the senior club we sort of made that decision because we would have been really stretched to get a 16s, we would have needed some 15s coming to help out,” he said. 

“We thought it was best to nurture the 15s this year, we’ve got 20 [players] in our Under 15s at the moment, and without trying to wear them out with helping 16s and playing 15s in the one year, we just thought we’d just concentrate on 15s and [create] a good relationship and [move] up to seniors all together and start building from the ground up again. 

“It’s tricky in a little town, that’s the sort of age group where kids are moving away for either uni or boarding school or work and it’s just hard to try and keep them all together, but we’ve done a pretty good job in the past.

“Group 9 seniors are actually sending the 16s back to juniors next year to play with the junior clubs, and that’ll help with [retaining] the 15s, and then moving forward, when it comes to a two-age group gap [16s to 18s], I think we should be fine.”

The key to maintaining teams in so many age groups in a relatively small town according to Guymer is to make everyone feel welcome within the club regardless of their playing ability, keeping numbers high and teams on the field as Temora searches for its next superstar.

“[We just] sort of try and make it inclusive, I guess, because some kids take a while to come on and it’s supposed to be about having fun and making it a fun environment,” he said. 

“The good kids are always going to be good, in my opinion, but yeah, you just look after the bottom end and the top half looks after itself, that’s sort of how I view it anyway.”

Guymer is also a part of an NRL journey of his own, with his son Charlie debuting for Parramatta against South Sydney just over a month ago.

Guymer’s pride in his son’s achievement is evident, with the hard work that Charlie put into achieving his dream being the source of much praise.

“Rachel, myself, and his siblings are very proud,” he said. 

“I’ve always seen it happen, but I didn’t understand how much hard work goes into it until I [saw] it first hand, how much commitment [it takes].

“They [NRL players] give up a lot of things to get [there], and you’ve definitely got to have the drive to do it, but you don’t just get it out of talent alone, whoever works the hardest gets there.

“[If you] put the hard work in you get there in the end, so it’s just starting for Charlie, [and] obviously there’s a long way to go, but [for] what he’s achieved so far we’re super proud.”

For a town of its size, Temora’s production line remains a true sporting marvel to the keen eye of bush footy tragics, and a key part of the fabric that makes up the greatest game of all.

Although the stars themselves play their club football miles away from the Riverina, among the many stories that comprise the theatre and spectacle of Origin, there will always be a place for Temora, a humble farming town that formed the backbone of a New South Wales triumph.