Tallon Smith

Just one week after splitting the points against Young, the Wagga Kangaroos shared the spoils yet again after a 6-all draw with Gundagai in the grand final rematch at Geohex Park on Saturday.

After both sides entered the match with drawn results against the Cherrypickers in the past two rounds, nothing could separate the Roos and Tigers in a defensive contest played in wet conditions at the same venue as their equally tough encounter last September.

Both sides had a number of chances in the first half, with Kangaroos lock Ruta Haumaha held up in the in-goal early, before the Tigers enjoyed consecutive sets attacking the Wagga side’s tryline, only to be turned away by some committed defence.

In the end it was a James Smart penalty goal which opened the scoring to give the Kangaroos a 2-0 lead, one they maintained heading into the half time break.

The stalemate finally ended in the 50th minute when Gundagai fullback Tyron Gorman danced wide off a scrum and beat the tackle of Roos back rower Tyler Jordan to score the opening try of the match, which Sailusi Temaka converted for a 6-2 advantage.

Looking to level the game back up, the Kangaroos crossed the line through Brayden O’Reilly off a Smart bomb soon after, only for the try to be disallowed after a touch from Zeik Foster.

However, it was a Smart kick which created another chance in the 70th minute, and when Gorman spilled the ball, the Roos halfback toed the ball ahead, collected it, and linked with winger Matthew Murphy to level the scores.

Needing to land the conversion from the sideline to take the lead, Smart’s kick sailed across the face, and despite field goal attempts from Foster and Tigers halfback Derek Hay, nothing could separate the sides in the final 10 minutes.

After falling agonisingly short of a victory once again, both coaches were understandably disappointed not to walk away with two valuable competition points instead of one.

Despite this however, Kangaroos captain-coach Zeik Foster said he was largely pleased with his side’s performance, with the Wagga outfit’s continued improvement evident in matching the ladder leaders.

“Obviously [I’m] disappointed not to get the win, but our footy is going in the right direction,” he said.

“[It was a] very tough game, as we thought it would be going in.

“I see that our attitude is there, we have taken a step in the right direction, but there is a couple of tweaks [needed] there I reckon with our attack.

“We have had some players coming back too, so [with] a little bit more camaraderie and stuff like that, we will be better for the run.”

One thing that Foster believes has elevated the Roos’ football in recent weeks has been the return of some experienced players to the club’s line-up after time on the sidelines.

“We had a very hot and cold start to the year, we were missing a few veterans in our side,” he said.

“Hayden Jolliffe, he has come back the last two weeks, Ollie Hoskin as well.

“They have been huge for our side, you can’t replace experience, so onwards and upwards for us.

“Hopefully we’re in for a big game against Junee next week, who are also travelling well, so [I’m] looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, after the high of knocking off fellow pacesetters Temora last week at Nixon Park, the result puts Gundagai’s leadership of the competition at the halfway mark in jeopardy heading into a potential top of the table clash against Cootamundra next Sunday.

Tigers captain-coach Hayden Ashcroft said his side struggled to rise to the occasion in the less than ideal conditions, and needs to improve heading into the home stretch of the regular season if it wants to remain atop the ladder.

“It’s better than a loss, but […] we just need to be better I think if we want to maintain leading the competition,” he said. 

“I think it’s obviously difficult, wet weather footy, and we just didn’t get up for it.

“We just need to turn up no matter the conditions, and we were just caught flat today.

“I think Roos played a fantastic game, I think they really kicked themselves out of trouble and put a lot of pressure on us.

“We will take it, we will work on it, and hopefully we will be better next week.”

After losing two key members of its side heading into the clash in the form of prop Royce Tout and hooker Wilson Hamblin, Gundagai turned to two new additions in recently returned former Weissel Medallist James Luff and prop Sheldon Diaz to fill the void.

Speaking on the changes in the middle of the field, Ashcroft said that the Tigers did miss the omitted pair on Sunday, but praised the efforts of Luff and Diaz after being elevated from the bench last week to the starting side.

“They are a key part to our success, I think Touty really leads forward for us, and obviously Wilson around the ruck,” he said.

“I think Sheldon really led from the front, [it’s] great to have that depth in front row, which is probably something we’ve lacked, and Luffy didn’t look out of place, brings a lot, very level head, and a senior player to our group.”

The drawn result was one of three close games over the weekend in Group 9, with a Jake McGovern field goal elevating the Temora Dragons to a 19-18 home victory over the Junee Diesels, while the Wagga Brothers broke a 35-game win drought with a late Cleve McGhie try for a 20-18 victory over the Cootamundra Bulldogs at Les Boyd Oval.

The other Saturday game saw the Southcity Bulls celebrate Kyle McCarthy’s 300th game in style with a 42-24 victory over Tumut, while the other Saturday match saw the Young Cherrypickers defeat the Albury Thunder 22-12 at Alfred Oval.