Tallon Smith

Gundagai, Group 9 and the Riverina Bulls are on the lookout for a new head coach after Aaron Gorrell announced he will depart the club following his appointment to the role of Jersey Flegg coach at the St George Illawarra Dragons.

After leading the Tigers to a fifth title in 10 years in his first season at the helm this year, the Albion Park-Oak Flats junior will return to the Illawarra to take charge of the Dragons’ Under 21s side beginning in 2026.

Gorrell said that it was a full circle moment returning to the club that he progressed through the grades with and represented at the top level for five seasons.

“I was lucky enough to actually play in the first ever St George Illawarra Flegg team back in 2000, so it’s a bit of a full circle thing for me,” he said. 

“It probably wasn’t something I thought would ever happen, but I’m glad to get the opportunity and I’m looking forward to starting.”

With the move to the St George Illawarra lower grades the next evolution in his coaching career, questions naturally come to mind around ambitions for a role with the NRL team in the future.

However, Gorrell said his focus is squarely on the task at hand of delivering success to the Dragons’ Flegg team and helping talented young players chase their dream of playing in the NRL.

“I think when you start doing anything you want to be as good as you can at it, and I’m just glad I got an opportunity with the club I started out with, and spent a lot of time with,” he said.

“It’s where I grew up, [and it’s great] to get the opportunity to go back there and coach and hopefully play a small part in players going through and eventually playing NRL.

“It’ll be good if I can further my coaching career as well, but first and foremost my job is to try and get blokes playing NRL.”

Naturally, the move will see Gorrell depart Group 9, where he not only led Gundagai to the premiership, but also coached the Riverina representative side.

Despite the Dragons’ offer being simply too good to refuse for the experienced coach, Gorrell said that he will always remember his time at Gundagai fondly after making memories that will last a lifetime in ‘Tuckerbox Town’ this season.

“They were great to me and my family, we had a great year, and it was probably the most enjoyable year I’ve had coaching,” he said.

“It was probably one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make as a player and as a coach.

“We’ll try and get back there and I’m happy to help them out wherever needed as well, the way they treated us was amazing.”

The outgoing Tigers mentor also said he has gained a lot from his time in Group 9, which started at Wagga Brothers in 2024, with the opportunity to coach some of the competition’s most talented players furthering his skills as a coach.

“You learn from everybody that you work with,” he said.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with some really good players and also play under some really good coaches, so if you can pick the eyes out of everyone and take bits and pieces and then put your own little spin on it, I think it’ll put you in good stead.”

Gorrell’s departure also has major ramifications for the region’s representative scene, after he was initially named as Group 9 coach ahead of the return of the Kelly Cup against Group 20 in February.

Gorrell, who was instrumental in Battlers For Bush Footy‘s campaign to revive the Kelly Cup fixture, said that he wanted to go public with the news now so that the region’s representative teams have time to find a suitable replacement ahead of their respective campaigns.

“I kept seeing my name everywhere as coach, and I didn’t want to keep being named as the coach when I wasn’t going to do it,” he said.

A replacement for the Group 9 role is set to be announced over the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the Dragons’ 2026 Jersey Flegg Cup campaign will officially kick off in March.