Cover Photo: Tahlia Crane Photography

Tallon Smith

A clutch late double from centre Cleve McGhie proved the difference as Wagga Brothers snapped a 35-game winless run to defeat the Cootamundra Bulldogs at Les Boyd Oval on Sunday afternoon.

After Brothers took a 12-4 lead to the sheds, a fightback from the Bulldogs saw the visitors fall behind 14-12 midway through the second half, only for McGhie to score twice either side of a try to Joseva Tuinivanua to end a 771-day drought for the Wagga outfit.

Brothers coach Blake Dunn said it was “pleasing” to finally achieve a breakthrough victory after going close on a number of occasions this year.

“It’s a long time coming, I feel like we were in the position to win a few games this year and we just weren’t good enough to close them out,” he said.

“To get the win today against a quality team like Coota, it was very pleasing.”

Brothers opened the scoring through debutant Joey Charles, who finished a shift in the corner before backing up a break to double his tally in the following set, giving the visitors a 12-0 lead until the 38th minute when Sam Bragg hit back for Cootamundra to reduce the margin to eight at the break.

Bragg then doubled up as well early in the second stanza, before Brendan Kelleher took a well-timed pass off Ollie Hall to run through a gap and give the Bulldogs their first lead of the day after a successful conversion from James Paterson.

Needing to be next to score, McGhie responded for the Brothers in the 74th minute to put them back in front 16-14, until a shift from their own side of halfway saw Tuinivanua race away to reinstate the Bulldogs’ two-point lead.

However, with less than two minutes remaining, McGhie regathered a short kick to give Brothers one final attacking set, and the club’s star centre was there to finish off a half chance later in the set, sparking wild celebrations as players raced in to celebrate a win over two years in the making.

Reflecting on the crazy finish and the wild scenes that followed, Dunn said he was happy given his side had to find one final effort following the Bulldogs’ reply to McGhie’s first try.

“It was very pleasing that we were able to what feels like win that game twice,” he said.

“To Coota’s credit they found a way through a spread in their own half, caught us a little bit short, they found a way to get in front, and then obviously after receiving a short kickoff we were able to convert an opportunity with Cleve.

“Cleve stood up towards the end of the game.”

Another player that impressed was debutant Charles, who had the best possible start to his first grade career with the club in bagging a first half double of his own.

“That was Joey’s debut for first grade for our club, so we [are] very pleased to have him back at the club,” Dunn said.

“He finished a couple of opportunites off that were created on his edge, so he did a really good job to finish those.”

As for what the win means to the club, Dunn said it is not only a reward for effort and a morale boost, but also an indication of the continued improvement of the club both on and off the field.

“The best thing about winning football games is the confidence that you get from it, it is such a good feeling to win football games, it is something that you want to chase and feel,” he said.

“I have been very fortunate in my footy career to have many of those and feel the best times playing in a local competition, so I really want my boys to feel that more often.

“As a club I feel like we have been heading in the right direction for a couple of years, and getting some consistency and stability.

“We probably have been fairly unlucky with injuries and things that haven’t really [gone] our way, but to everyone’s credit we have continued to turn up with a fairly good attitude.

“It has been just a few periods of games that have been costing us this season, but obviously winning is what it is all about, it is what we all search to do, and also building some good values and good times with the people around you at the club is critically important.

“We have been building the second part of that equation, the winning needs to come as well.”

Brothers’ next game is a home clash with Young this Saturday, while Cootamundra will look to bounce back when it takes on Gundagai at Anzac Park on Sunday.