Tallon Smith

The Junee Diesels have started their centenary season with a stunning 18-14 upset win over defending premiers Gundagai Tigers in a hard-fought game at Anzac Park on Sunday afternoon.

Fielding an undermanned side without sidelined star recruit Connor Garrety and coaches Chase Bernard and Ben Shea, Junee overcame the odds and a second half deficit to open their account for 2026 with a victory.

The Diesels opened the scoring through centre Jakeem Morgan in the 10th minute, before the Tigers struck back through Jack Elphick to level the match at 6-all, which remained the score at the break.

Gundagai took a 10-6 lead early in the second half after winger Meli Drau stepped inside off a shift and beat multiple defenders to race in and score.

However, possession turned again and the Diesels hit the front again 12-10 when front rower Tom Carroll crashed over from short range, with Stu Dunbar adding the extras.

The match then entered a fifteen minute stalemate, with both sides throwing all they could at the opposition, including some entertaining last tackle plays from the Tigers who went close on a number of occasions.

However, Junee’s resilience ensured their slender lead remained, and that defensive resolve paid dividends on their next attacking raid when Daniel Foley sliced through and extended the margin to eight.

A late try to Tyron Gorman brought Gundagai within four points and gave the match the grandstand finish it deserved, but the Diesels held off the Tigers’ late challenge to secure a famous victory to open their new campaign.

Junee assistant coach Damian Willis, who is serving in an interim head coaching role while mentors Shea and Bernard complete their season in the French competition, said he was happy with the gritty victory.

“It was a pretty good win, the boys tried hard all day, and I think the game wasn’t flashy at all, there were plenty of mistakes,” he said.

“We’ve had a pretty tough pre-season, and I think that was probably reflected in our resilience today.

“We just continued to do the things that were working for us, which was defending hard and putting plenty of pressure on Derek [Hay] and Will [Herring], and the little things we’re doing right at the moment are probably the best things that we’re doing.”

With a reshuffled side missing key players, the Diesels fielded a brand new halves combination, with long-time fullback and representative star Foley partnering former Australian rugby sevens star Dunbar in the first game of his latest stint in the 13-man code.

Despite facing off against the incumbent Riverina halves pairing in Herring and Hay, the pair steered the side to victory, leaving Willis impressed with how they approached their respective roles.

“They both were really good in their own moments,” he said.

“Daniel controls the side, and I think Stu’s kicking game was quite good today as well.

“Stu hasn’t played a lot of rugby league for a long time, so to get him into the mindset and understanding the points on the field, I think the last couple of weeks he’s been really good and Dan’s helped him a lot.

“Dan controls a game of footy, doesn’t matter where he is, whether it’s fullback or halfback, you know what you’re going to get from him.”

One thing many have questioned in recent seasons is the Diesels’ coaching strategy, with their co-coaches Shea and Bernard missing the first few rounds of the competition whilst completing their duties with the Albi Tigers in the French Super XIII competition.

Add to that the fact that key signing and former NSW Cup player Garrety was forced to watch Sunday’s match from the Anzac Park touchline, and Junee was well short of fielding its best 17.

However, with the reinforcements set to join the side over the coming weeks, Willis said the confidence-boosting upset win without its stars has the Diesels well-placed heading into the middle stretch of the year.

“It’s a massive boost for our club, not only the team but the club, we’ve got the guys coming from France, we’ve got Connor sitting on the sideline at the moment,” he said. 

“He’ll be back round two which is an added bonus, which will mean that Daniel Foley will move back to fullback and Connor will steer the ship.

“It’s a huge boost for us, and we knew early with discussions with Ben and Chase early in the pre-season, that we need to win the early games, so that when they get here round three and four, we hit the ground running and there won’t be too much disruption to not only the football side but the coaching part as well.

“Once they get here a little bit may change, but the goals are still the same.”

In terms of what the victory means to Willis, a four-time premiership player with Gundagai, the Diesels mentor said while it was “fantastic” to get the win, it was bittersweet given the disappointment felt by many of his former Tigers teammates in Tyron Gorman’s milestone 200th match.

“You always want to win games of football, and the amount of time and effort that I’ve put into coaching Junee over the last couple of years, I think it’s just reward, but coming against I guess my second home with Gundagai, it’s tough and you don’t like to see your mates disappointed,” he said.

“A few of my friends in that side were quite disappointed, especially TJ [Tyron Gorman] playing his 200th, because he scored a good try, and was good throughout the game, a solid footballer, and it would have been nice for the boys to win that milestone game for him.

“It’s definitely satisfying, but on the other foot it’s a little bit difficult as well.”

Meanwhile on the other hand, the loss is a tough start for the Tigers to both their premiership defence and the Hayden Ashcroft era following the side’s coaching change over the off-season.

The new Gundagai coach said his side were simply outplayed by a hungry Junee team as the Tigers adjust to being the hunted again following their triumph last season.

“It’s a bit of a shame to get off to a slow start like that, but it is round one and this is a lengthy competition,” he said.

“Looking in today, we were just a little bit off the pace, and that’s going to be like that most of the year, I think teams are going to be up to beat us after obviously winning it last year.

“I think we just need to be on our game each week and today we just fell short.

“It’s disappointing to not come away with a better result, but I think we’ll go back this week and take the time to do some game review, week off obviously being Anzac Day, and then hopefully Tumut at Tumut we can turn things around.”

Cherrypickers retain Challenge Cup with comeback win

The Young Cherrypickers came from 18-0 down against South City to secure both the two competition points and the Challenge Cup with a 34-28 win at Alfred Oval.

The Pickers ran in five second half tries, with Che Hyslop bagging a double, while Matt Noakes, Boro Navori and Matt Murray completed the comeback, with the 6-point margin being greater than South City’s +4.5 start.

Earlier, it was the Bulls who dominated in the first half, with Jesse Fitzhenry, Luke McBeath, Mat Lyons and Rhys Weldon all crossing for first half four-pointers.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s results saw Cootamundra upset Temora 32-24 at Nixon Park, Wagga Kangaroos escape from Albury with a 24-22 win over the Thunder, and Wagga Brothers and Tumut draw 20-all at Geohex Park.

The competition will have a general bye next weekend for Anzac Day, before rivalry round action takes centre stage the following week.