Tallon Smith
The Gundagai Tigers overturned a seven-point half time deficit to return to the winners’ circle with a 16-7 victory over Wagga Brothers at Anzac Park on Saturday.
After a try to Luke Anderson and Cohen Benson field goal gave the visitors a 7-0 lead at the break, the Tigers turned things around in the second half with tries to Corey Wilson, James Luff and Derek Hay to secure a vital two competition points in the minor premiership race with Temora.
Gundagai player-coach Hayden Ashcroft said it was good to emerge with the win given the side’s patchy recent form and last start loss to Albury.
“Brothers really turned up on the weekend and we were away from our best, but still obviously pleased to come away with the result,” he said.
“I think we certainly have been patchy in the last few weeks, certainly not playing our best footy.
“[It was] not easy to swallow the loss over at Albury.
“In summary, teams are certainly just playing their best football against us, and that has been the message all year, we need to turn up every week.”
Following a scoreless opening 20 minutes, it was Anderson who broke the deadlock against the run of play, stealing the ball from Tigers fullback Will Herring and racing in under the posts.
Halfback Cohen Benson then followed up his conversion with a field goal leading into half time, giving Brothers a rare 7-0 lead and leaving Gundagai staring at the prospect of a second straight defeat.
However, three second half tries made sure that would not be the case.
Ashcroft said despite the two-score deficit and a “horrible” completion rate, constructive conversations during the intermission proved the turning point as the Tigers rallied to win by nine points.
“I wasn’t worried, I was probably more frustrated, and certainly some conversations [were] had at half time, you can’t win games completing at 50 percent,” he said.
“A change of the way we shaped that next 40 minutes was crucial, and obviously paid off in the end [in] that we completed higher, probably around the 80 percent mark in the second half.
“We have got points in us, but we’re just struggling to get off to a good start.”
Gundagai faces one of the toughest finishes to the season, with a run home of Southcity (away), Young (away) and Temora (home), with the last game a potential showdown for the minor premiership.
As the competition pauses for a general bye this weekend, Ashcroft said it has come at a perfect time for the Tigers, who are hopeful of welcoming back several players from injury.
“I think it has come at a good time, especially because we are in a bit of a rut in terms of our form,” he said.
“[It] gives us a bit of a rest, a freshen up, we will be not taking the week off but training [and] it’s a good time in terms of some blokes returning from injury as well, which is always nice.
“I think it’s going to be a difficult three games into finals, but we need to be up for it and we just need to be better I think.
“Hopefully we respond better after the week off, and are right up for it against Southcity at Harris Park.”
Brothers’ next match will be against competition leaders Temora at Nixon Park on August 8.
GUNDAGAI 16 (Corey Wilson, James Luff, Derek Hay tries; Wilson 2 goals) DEFEATED WAGGA BROTHERS 7 (Luke Anderson try; Cohen Benson goal; Benson field goal) at Anzac Park, Saturday July 25.
