Tallon Smith
The Wagga Kangaroos escaped from ANZAC Park with a come-from-behind 22-18 victory over the Gundagai Tigers in round two of Great Northern Group Nine First Grade action on Sunday afternoon.
Gundagai started well, with Wilson Hamblin crossing in the 11th minute, before the Roos hit back via Ned Cooper to trail by two at 6-4.
Soon after, the Tigers re-established their six point lead going into the break when Eparama Navuki scored to make it 10-4 Gundagai’s way at half time.
However, the Roos clicked into gear in the second half, with a try to Gus Clark in the 48th minute followed by two more to Nathan Rose and Zeik Foster to give the Wagga side a 22-10 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Two late tries to Navuki saw him complete his hat-trick, but after the conversions went astray, the Roos held on for a four-point victory to go to 2-0 on the season.
Wagga Kangaroos Coach Nathan Rose said that after a poor first half, it was good to see his side rally in the second stanza to take the win.
“I felt we probably got out of the blocks a little bit slow, turned over some cheap ball, and made it hard on ourselves early on, but it was definitely pleasing to come away with the two points,” he said.
“I think we probably didn’t kick into gear until the second half, we went in okay at half time, having the game pretty close [helped us] climb back.
“I think our defence in the second half definitely helped us out a lot to come away with the victory.”
Rose said that one area that the Roos will need to improve on is reducing errors, after the side put itself under pressure too often against the Tigers.
“Gundagai are always tough at home, but I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves early on, and you can’t do that against quality football sides.
“We’ll need to fix that up moving forward.”
Back on the paddock in 2025 after injury cruelled his campaign last season, Rose scored a crucial try that extended the Roos’ lead midway through the second half, with the Wagga mentor happy to be back steering the ship from the field rather than the sidelines.
“Definitely my preference is to be out on the field, playing and helping the boys on the field as opposed to sitting in the sideline telling them what to do,” he said.
“That was a bit tricky early on [last season], but you just adjust to the situation.
“It’s nice to be back playing some footy again with the boys.”
When asked about who stood up for the Kangaroos in Sunday’s clash, Rose was quick to heap praise on two of his key forwards.
“I think Shane Hannam, our second rower, had a good game, he got our players’ player for the weekend, so I think he went really well,” Rose said.
“A lot of other boys, Gus Clark in the middle came off the bench and had a really good impact there as well, they were probably two blokes that come to mind straight away.
“In saying that, everyone still had a decent enough game, it was probably more team stuff that we weren’t doing well.”
Next up for the Kangaroos is a mouth-watering local derby with the South City Bulls at Geohex Park, a match Rose said the squad is looking forward to without paying it too much attention.
“If I’m being honest, I probably haven’t paid too much attention to what their opening two rounds [were like], first and foremost we need to get ourselves in order before we start worrying too much about them,” he said.
“In saying that, there’s no doubt it will be a tough game on the day.
“It’s more about us trying to rectify where we weren’t so good on the weekend, and I think if we can improve on those areas, we’ll give ourselves a good opportunity to win the game.”
Elsewhere across the Group over the weekend, the Junee Diesels took Brothers’ +15.5 points start well and truly out of the equation with a 50-10 victory in their Challenge Cup fixture at Laurie Daley Oval.
Right-side centre-wing combination Ratu Saurara and Nick Hogarth each scored doubles in the nine tries to two victory, which sees the Diesels again defending the cup at home against Temora this coming weekend.
Young were also at their clinical best, tallying up 44 points to Albury’s 10 in a strong home showing at Alfred Oval.
The Cherrypickers’ middles dominated in another dominant performance that has cemented their position as premiership favourites in the eyes of many local pundits.
Temora also defended their home turf, taking the two points with a 22-20 victory over South City at Nixon Park on Saturday.
Jared McKinnon led the way with a try and three goals as the Dragons saluted in Hayden Philp’s 100th first grade game for the club.
Finally, the Tumut Blues joined the Kangaroos as away winners over the weekend with a 22-16 win over the Cootamundra Bulldogs at Les Boyd Oval.
A strong team effort saw four different try scorers in Thomas Jeffery, Matthew Byatt, Parish Bellette and Jordyn Maher cross the stripe in the victory.
‘Rivalry Round’ action this coming weekend sees a Wagga Derby between Kangaroos and South City, Young host Cootamundra, old Group 13 rivals clash when Albury play Brothers, Tumut take on Gundagai, and Junee tackle Temora in the Challenge Cup clash, with the Diesels given +9.5 start.
Battlers For Bush Footy 