Cover Photo: Bec Herring
Tallon Smith
The Cootamundra Bulldogs have moved back inside the Group 9 top five after ending a four-game losing streak with a 26-10 victory over Tumut at Twickenham on Sunday.
After taking a 12-4 lead into the break, the Bulldogs scored twice more in the second half to seal the club’s first win since its last-minute victory over Southcity in mid-June.
Cootamundra coach Luke Berkrey said it was pleasing to return to the winners’ circle and emerge with the two competition points at a venue the club has traditionally struggled to win at.
“It has been a bit of a graveyard for Coota for a fair while, which I didn’t realise,” he said.
“A lot of the older boys said after the game that they don’t actually remember winning a game up there, so it was certainly a good win for us.
“It has been a tough month having two losses after the siren in that three weeks, and it was just really important that we got that winning feeling back in the team, and I think it will give us a big leg up moving forward.”
Cootamundra struck twice early through winger Harry Boxsell to open up an 8-0 lead, before Tumut halfback Callum Rossiter found debutant Hobie Baker who raced in to hit back for the home side.
Another Bulldog completed a double on either side of half time, with Sam Bragg scoring twice to extend the lead to 18-4, before Berkrey also got his name on the scoresheet.
Baker then capped an impressive debut with a late consolation try to complete his own brace, leaving the final margin at 16 points.
After each adding to their tally in the win to move into equal fourth on the Group 9 tryscoring table, Berkrey said the form of rising stars Boxsell and Bragg has continued to impress him.
“Harry, every time he has played, he’s scored tries, he would have scored 10 tries, so he’s been really good at finishing off,” he said.
“[Sam] has been unbelievable for us, he was a kid that just moved back to Coota from school up in Sydney and never realised that he was going to be able to elevate himself to where he has.
“[We’re] really grateful that he moved back home, he has been unbelievable.”
As for the context of the race to the finals, the victory has temporarily elevated Cootamundra back into fifth on differential, ahead of the two sides they will face in the final fortnight of the season, Wagga Kangaroos and Southcity.
Despite the temptation to look at the table, Berkrey said his focus is squarely on the side’s clash with another side chasing them in the Albury Thunder at home on Sunday.
“To be honest, that stuff, we really hope we get there, but we are not thinking that far ahead,” he said.
“We probably got caught up after the start of the year thinking too far ahead.
“We have got to make sure we get our next training session right, then nail our performance this weekend against Albury and all that sort of stuff looks after itself.
“All the teams that are around us, we play at the back end of the year, so [our] destiny is in our own hands.
“We are in a good spot at the moment, but we’ve just got to keep winning.”
Tumut’s next match is at Young on Saturday.
COOTAMUNDRA 26 (Harry Boxsell 2, Sam Bragg 2, Luke Berkrey tries; Berkrey 3 goals) DEFEATED TUMUT 10 (Hobie Baker 2 tries; Callum Rossiter goal) at Twickenham Oval, Sunday July 19.
