Cover Photo: Tahlia Crane Photography

Tallon Smith

After enduring one of the toughest Group 9 seasons in recent memory, Wagga Brothers have made some major steps in their recruitment ahead of the 2026 campaign.

Having signed former South City coach Cleve McGhie, as well as Merimbula-Pambula five-eighth Bailie Lyttle and club junior Cohen Benson, the club has set its sights on the next phase of its rebuild heading into the pre-season.

Speaking about their new recruits, Brothers First Grade coach Blake Dunn believes that the club has been successful in signing players in key positions to address areas specifically identified as needing improvement.

“I think we’ve made some good progress with our recruitment,” he said. 

“I think it was pretty critical that we identified a few areas that we need to improve in to be competitive and I feel like we went a long way in achieving that.

“Obviously we won’t know how it all comes together until we run on to the park in April, but having said that, this year, while results didn’t go our way I feel like we took some really important strides forward.”

The signings of Benson and Lyttle in particular aim to give the club greater direction and depth in the halves, after Dunn himself had to come out of retirement to play halfback at points this season.

The Brothers coach said the idea behind this tactical approach to recruitment is to bring in experienced players to guide the club’s young, hard-working squad.

“The group that’s there trained really hard through the pre-season, I think that’s going to hold them in good stead for the second tough pre-season,” Dunn said.

“We’re bringing in these new recruits, and hopefully our younger boys, because we certainly did have a really young squad last year, will learn off of them, because we have brought in some really good quality.

“We still are active in the recruitment area, and there’s still a few positions that we need to try and lock away, but I’m hoping to be much more competitive. 

“Regardless I’m sure we’ll have a good time, enjoy each other’s company, and look to continue to develop as people.

“Whether it’s our men’s teams or our women’s teams, [we’re] looking to continue to be better people, better role models, and have some fun while we do it.”

The positive effect of the club’s stronger off-season has also been a confidence booster for the club’s players.

Brothers captain Mitchell Carter said that after struggling for numbers in recent years, the early strides in recruitment will allow for a stronger pre-season going into the 2026 campaign.

“I’m really looking forward to rocking up to training and having decent numbers to get straight into training and being able to train hard straight away, which is really good,” he said.

“[In] previous years, we’re trying to find signings late in the year, we’re looking for players in our pre-season.

“I think having all these new faces is going to be great for our team.

“We trained really hard last pre-season, obviously we didn’t get the results on the field, but we were a fit side, so I think with all these new faces, as long as we get in [and] work hard like we did in last year’s pre-season, we will hopefully get the results.”

Although Brothers went winless last season, they did win and defend the Challenge Cup, before ultimately losing it to Cootamundra in the third last round of the competition.

Despite this, Carter said that his side’s performance in their successful cup defence against Temora, where they went down 22-10 in a close encounter, showed that the young team had improved over the course of the season, with consistency being the next step.

“That game with Temora showed that we have that type of game in us, but we just need to be able to do it for 80 minutes, which I think these new signings will help with,” he said.

“I think one of our biggest assets is our culture is really good at the club, we all enjoy being around each other, after the games we all go back to the pub socialising together, training’s always good, we’re always having a bit of a laugh before and after, so I think that closeness off the field will only help us get better on the field.”

As for what it means to put on the red and green jumper, Carter said that it is an honour to represent 45 years of history as well as inspire the next generation of club juniors.

“[I feel] a lot of pride, I’ve played for Wagga Brothers since under 6s, so I’ve always wanted to play in the seniors with the boys, you grow up watching it,” he said.

“You’re very proud to put on the jersey, and you look now at younger kids in the crowd watching you, and you want them to one day be able to come play alongside you or have a senior club to go into.

“I think the fact that we were able to hold on for that rebuilding season and now we’re slowly making more signings and [seeing] a bit of growth, hopefully we can keep on continuing to grow, and the club will keep on getting in a better position each season.”

The new Group 9 season will begin on the weekend of April 18-19 next year, with Brothers set to face Tumut in the opening round.