Tallon Smith
Gundagai will head into tomorrow’s grand final rematch with the Wagga Kangaroos without two key members of its front row, paving the way for two recent additions to start.
Prop Royce Tout and hooker Wilson Hamblin were not named in the Tigers’ line-up for the showdown at Geohex Park, with recently returned two-time Weissel Medallist James Luff and new signing Sheldon Diaz elevated to the starting side to replace them after featuring off the bench against Temora.
With the Kangaroos looking for payback for last year’s grand final loss, Gundagai coach Hayden Ashcroft said the defending premiers are ready for a tough match.
“[It’s] something we have spoken about as a team throughout, I don’t think [in] any game we are safe, we are definitely the hunted,” he said.
“If you want to talk about [us being the] hunted, Roos are certainly going to be up for it after last year.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead, but I think if we turn up and don’t play our best type of footy, I think any team will put us away, so we need to stay on and this week is another great challenge for us.
“I think after Roos drawing with Young I think they will probably be on a bit of a high too, so I expect it to be a difficult game and hopefully we turn up with the right attitude and just keep moving forward.”
In stark contrast to the ladder-leading Tigers, the Kangaroos have endured some patchy form to start the season, following a win-loss pattern until Sunday’s home draw with the Young Cherrypickers.
That makes tomorrow’s fixture all the more important for the Wagga side, with captain-coach Zeik Foster looking forward to the mid-season test that the match presents.
“Gundagai have cemented themselves I suppose as the top runners at the top of the ladder, so it is a really good opportunity for us to show where we are at as well at the moment,” he said.
“Obviously I know they had a draw with Young as well only two weeks ago, so really keen to challenge ourselves against the frontrunners in the comp and see where we end up, we are really looking forward to it.”
Meanwhile, fresh off their first win of the season over Albury, the Tumut Blues will look to defend the Challenge Cup for a second time when they travel to Harris Park to face the Southcity Bulls with a +7.5 start on Sunday.
Despite the cup being a sideshow to their fight to qualify for the top five in the premiership competition, coach Dean Bristow said consistently being handed points starts has motivated the side in recent weeks.
“It’s not obviously on the forefront of your mind, but I know other teams having the start against us the last two weeks, it has kind of motivated us a little bit more to know that we are the underdogs when we don’t think we are the underdogs,” he said.
“It’s [the cup] a great little initiative by the group, it gives a little bit of extra feeling and something to play for.
“It puts a little bit of extra spice into a contest like that.”
Looking at other fixtures around Group 9 this weekend, the Albury Thunder will attempt to start the long climb from ninth place back into finals contention when they travel to Young tomorrow, before Cootamundra hosts Wagga Brothers and Temora welcomes Junee on Sunday.
