Tallon Smith
The Batemans Bay Tigers will head into tomorrow’s clash with the Narooma Devils off the back of their first back-to-back wins in just under three years after a 22-16 victory over Cooma at the Cooma Showground on Sunday.
The Tigers’ triumph against the Stallions followed a 28-10 win over Moruya, marking the club’s first consecutive victories since it defeated Bega and Snowy River in rounds five and six, with the result at Cooma also their first away win since the win over the Roosters in the same sequence in 2023.
Reflecting on the positive results, Batemans Bay coach Jeff Cox said it was an unfamiliar but welcome feeling to emerge with the competition points for a second straight week against the Stallions.
“It’s quite unique, at least for our club over the last two years at least anyway,” he said.
“It wasn’t what you call a high-class game, there was a bit of error from both teams, we just managed to make fewer errors than Cooma, but the last 10 minutes we probably did everything in our power to try and throw the game away.
“I think it must have been the football gods looking down on us last weekend to help us hang on that last 10 minutes of the game and secure the win.”
The Tigers struck first when Jayden Wolfe collected a kick to race away and score, before Jake Clare hit back with a quick-fire double to give Cooma a 12-6 lead after 21 minutes.
Wolfe fought his way over for his second to level the game again eight minutes later, before back rower Scott Kalsbeek grounded a delicate Anthony Henry grubber in the shadows of half time to restore the Tigers’ six point advantage at 18-12.
A stalemate followed after the break, with neither team adding to its score until fullback Harley Trick finished a scrum base play out wide to extend Batemans Bay’s lead to 10 points.
The Stallions hit back through Damon Smith in the corner to set up a grandstand finish, but ultimately it was to be the Tigers’ day, with the side holding on for a memorable victory on the road.
The dramatic finish to the game was a tough watch for Cox, with Batemans Bay turning down a golden opportunity to go two scores clear in the final 10 minutes, leading to some nerves on the sideline before the final siren brought relief.
“We were up by six and we had an opportunity to take a shot for peanlty goal and go out to eight, and we didn’t take that opportunity, and then Cooma came back into the game, they were getting through their sets,” he said.
“We were making 2025 year mistakes that were just not in the playbook at all, and I thought it was going to be a case of deja vu, that we were going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
The win followed a strong showing a week earlier against the side’s arch rivals in Moruya, with the 18-point victory helping the side to correct its course after two big losses to begin the year against last year’s two grand finalists in Merimbula-Pambula and Tathra.
Despite a difficult lead up to the game, Cox said his side was well and truly up for the contest against the Sharks, with the local derby element proving the perfect motivation.
“When you look at the program every year, the game that you always want to make sure you bring your a-game and try and sniff out a win is the Moruya game,” he said.
“We know that we only play Moruya one time this year, and we played them at home, so it was internally a really important game for us.”
Next up for the Tigers is a home date with the Narooma Devils at Mackay Park tomorrow, a side which is also coming off a positive result following its 22-20 win over Eden at George Brown Memorial Sports Ground on Sunday.
Ahead of the crucial clash between the sides, Cox said Batemans Bay is not underestimating the challenge that awaits them this weekend, with the Devils already having two victories to their credit in addition to pushing contenders Tathra and Bega all the way.
“I think a lot of teams are underestimating Narooma, we’re certainly not in a position to underestimate Narooma, because I remember a game we played last year we played them we underestimated them, and they gave us a football lesson,” he said.
“We’re going to go in with an approach this year of making sure that we are not complacent in any way, and we have no right to be complacent against Narooma.
“They are higher than us on the ladder, they are probably playing better football than us, so we have to go in almost with an underdog mentality again and try and scrap out a win against them.”
The Tigers-Devils game is one of four across Group 16 this weekend, with Bombala hosting Tathra in the other Saturday game, before Merimbula-Pambula tackles Cooma and Eden travels to Moruya on Sunday.
