Tallon Smith
The Gundagai Tigers have maintained their leadership of the Group 9 competition with a 14-point victory over the Temora Dragons at Nixon Park on Saturday.
The defending premiers piled on five first half tries, including three while the Dragons were reduced to 12 men, to open up a 26-6 gap at half time, before adding two more late as winger Sailusi Temaka completed a hat-trick in the 38-24 win.
Gundagai coach Hayden Ashcroft said he was pleased with his side’s first half showing, after the Tigers placed an emphasis on winning the early exchanges in their matches this season.
“It was something we have been speaking about throughout the last few weeks, I think the week off really freshened us up, and we knew Temora at Temora was always going to be difficult,” he said.
“I think we have just been consistent, it’s just completing high and trying to start our games strong which has really helped us in the back end of second halves, so I was pretty impressed with the way we handled it.
“I think we completed at above 80 per cent, and just really capitalised at crucial times, which paid dividends in the back end of the second half.”
The Tigers started fast, with Temaka and centre Gabriel Gul both crossing within the opening 11 minutes for an early 12-0 lead.
Temora hit back six minutes later to reduce the margin to six when Brandon Nima found Hamish Starr, who raced in underneath the posts for his competition-leading 12th try of the season so far.
However, momentum again swung back in Gundagai’s favour when Starr found himself in the sin bin for a professional foul soon after, and the Tigers made the Dragons pay, with Temaka, Tyron Gorman and Meli Drau all crossing before the break.
The Dragons struck back through Billy Reardon on the other side of half time, but that try was cancelled out when Temaka completed his hat-trick soon after.
Not about to give in, Temora added two further tries to their tally through Bailey Wallace and Zac Starr, but ultimately it was too big a task, and the Tigers were able to put the icing on the cake when Will Herring collected a ricochet and sent Wilson Hamblin racing away to finish the game with a seventh Gundagai try.
Reflecting on the three tries the side scored while the Dragons were reduced to 12 men, Ashcroft said the Tigers’ patience and ability to stick to their game plan proved the key to capitalising on the advantage.
“The hardest thing with that is at times you get a little bit complacent and you are a bit pass happy and you start searching for points knowing that they are one down,” he said.
“I think the most promising thing was that we were still patient, we still completed our sets, and when those opportunities did present, we did take them, and it wasn’t through the push of a pass, it was just through a team collaboration, every bloke nailing their role.
“I think that was the most impressive thing and something we spoke about.
“Obviously as a coach I could not be more impressed and I think it was just a game I summarised as a proud moment because we just delivered in every aspect.”
Meanwhile, Gundagai also unveiled another recruitment surprise in former Mackay Cutters Queensland Cup player Sheldon Diaz, who performed strongly on club debut.
Diaz joins Temaka and former Group 7 Michael Cronin Medallist Mark Asquith as the three additions made to last year’s premiership side.
The Tigers’ next match is the grand final rematch with the Wagga Kangaroos on Saturday, while Temora will look to bounce back when it hosts local rivals Junee on Sunday.
