Peter (Parra) Montgomery
The final round of the Group 9 home and away series will be played on the weekend, and by 4.30 pm on Saturday afternoon, followers of Rugby League in this part of the State will know the composition of the final series.
With only Wagga Kangaroos certain of finishing with the top spot and minor premiership in first grade the other four positions are up for grabs with Gundagai (vBrothers) Young (v Temora) Temora (v Young) and Tumut (v Kangaroos) fighting it out for second, third, fourth and fifth positions on the ladder.
On current positions on the ladder, each game should go right down to the wire, although Gundagai should wrap up second place by defeating Wagga Brothers – which has not won a game in either first or reserve grades in 2026.
Wagga Kangaroos take on Tumut Blues at Geohex Stadium Wagga on Saturday, with the Blues looking to reverse the 50-0 loss handed out by Kangaroos to Tumut at Twickenham Oval when the teams met in Round 1.
The match result was the biggest loss the proud Tumut Club had been on the end of for many seasons.
Kangaroos, knowing it will be having the first week off in the final series, will be keen to have a strong ‘hit-out’ to ‘tune-up’ for what should be a very close premiership challenge.
Premiers Young Cherrypickers have hit winning form at the right end of the season, and will be chasing its seventh straight win when it takes on the strong Temora Dragons at Alfred Oval Young on Saturday afternoon.
The winner of the match will lock up third position in the finals race – and the double chance in the play-offs.
Temora snuck home by two points, 24-22 at Nixon Park Temora in Round 1, and the match on Saturday promises to be just as close.
Both the Dragons and The Cherrypickers have strong forward packs, led by two of the best props in the Group.
Tom Giles, a former Australian Under 19 representative, is ‘lethal’ close to the try line, and very hard to defend against.
Tommy Demeio’s return to the Pickers line-up has been the catalyst of the team’s golden run of wins in the four weeks.
Demeio dominated the early part of the season when used as a halfback, but his return as hooker has resulted in the forward play being a lot more organised.
Temora prop Haydn Philp has been one of the dominant players in the competition – and is one of the players in contention for the Weissel Medal for 2025.
Philip was Captain/coach of Leeton Greens – who went back to back premiership wins in Group 20 in 2022/2023, before returning to Temora in 2024.
Temora have joint coaches in Josh McCrone and Hayden Lomax – giving the Dragons experienced leaders in charge.
McCrone is a former NRL player with Canberra Raiders and StGeorge Illawarra Dragons, who has a very good kicking game, and Lomax, also a former StGeorge lower grade player, is the younger brother of Parramatta Eel Zac Lomax.
Young’ captain/coach Tom Giles leads by example, and is the joint leading try-scorer in the competition with 14 – the same Dragons winger Jock Ward and Kangaroos centre Dakota Ruta.
Meanwhile, Albury Thunder will travel to Laurie Daley Oval Junee to take on Junee Diesels. The Thunder will be looking to qualify for a place in the Under 18 final series.
To qualify, the Thunder will need to defeat the Diesels, and for Tumut to go down to undefeated minor premiers Wagga Kangaroos at Geohex Stadium, Wagga.
There is a margin of 17 in the points differential between the two Clubs, Thunder being minus 30 and Tumut minus 13.
If both teams lose on Saturday, Thunder will need to restrict the margin to within that range. Tumut forfeited to Temora last week.
The Thunder have put a strong team together for the ‘challenge’. Five of the Under 18 team have had a taste of senior football this year, and that will hold them in good stead for the match.
Jack Harris, Eric Tui, Riley Ivanku, Luka Higoe and Isaac Plunkett have all played first grade at some stage during the season.
Thunder found a rich vein of form after meeting Junee in Round 7 at Greenfield Park. Thunder won that match 40-12, and then won four out of its next six contests to put the team in position
to challenge for a semi-final spot. One of the losses was to unbeaten Kangaroos, narrow 20-18 defeat; and a 12-10 loss to fourth placed South City Bulls last week.
Outstanding fullback Nate Broekman, has been in super form and his prolific point scoring ability is a big plus for the team.
The Thunder Reserve Grade team will be out to complete the home and away series with an undefeated record.
The Thunder will be without several key players, including star fullback Crete Waaka, coach Andrew Smith, blockbusting centre Brodie Ford and hard working hooker Bailey Muras.
The Club has depth to cover those losses, with Sam Lulia moving into hooker role, Riley George coming back onto a wing where he has been in red-hot form, Tea Miti, slotting into a centre spot. The Thunder team has built its competitiveness on its strong defence.
The team has conceded only 70 points all season.
The team struggled against South City last week before winning the match 18-8, the final try by the visitors coming from a kick on fulltime.
The match was a ‘wake-up’ call for the side – a timely reminder that all players need to contribute towards the end goal.
In the first grade encounter, the Thunder will be keen to finish on a winning note – to finish just outside the semi-finalists in sixth position.
The Thunder has had a very strong season, and, but for a few results narrowly going the wrong way, could have finished in a good position and been a ‘contender’.
The Club recruited quality players during the off-season, and under coaches Etu Uaisele, Andrew Smith and Eli Tipene, developed into a strong unit who represented the Club, the code, and the area with distinction and pride.
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