Cover Photo: Tahlia Crane Photography
Tallon Smith
A six-try first half avalanche all but sealed a seventh straight victory for Temora in its 58-22 triumph over the Wagga Brothers at Nixon Park on Saturday.
After Hamish Starr and Billy Reardon kickstarted the scoring, five-eighth Lachie Cole stole the show with a hat-trick inside the opening 40 minutes, with Tyler Madden also getting in on the action to open up a 36-0 lead.
Luke Anderson finally put Brothers on the board in the shadows of the break, before the Wagga side had a better period to start the second half, following up Dragons prop Zach Starr’s four-pointer with three more of their own to Joey Tolhurst, Anderson and Riley Ivanku get back to 42-22.
However, Temora again found its groove to close out the match, with Jimmy Stewart getting his name on the scoresheet prior to a late double to halfback Jake McGovern, to leave the final margin at 36 points.
Despite his disappointment with the lapse that let Brothers back into the match, Temora coach Jordon Burley was glad to come away with another valuable two competition points that keeps the side atop the table on points differential.
“We played some pretty good footy for about 60 minutes, and we had about a 20 minute lapse, which I wasn’t really happy with,” he said.
“I think they scored four tries in 20 minutes so that is something that we definitely have got to fix up leading into the business end.
“We eventually got out of that slump, and I think we scored another three late, so that was pleasing, and another two points in a tight comp is always good.”
The star of the show early was Cole, whose support play on line breaks saw him rewarded on two occasions, while his second try followed a well-timed sweeping run on a shift.
Having now scored nine tries this season, the second most at the club behind only fullback Starr (16), Burley said the five-eighth’s approach to training is a big reason for his success so far in 2026.
“He’s been awesome all year, it doesn’t matter where he plays, he brings an attitude like something I haven’t seen before or coached before,” he said.
“He just knows and wants to get himself into the spots to benefit the team and that is what he does.
“It’s just an attitude thing, and he has done it all year.
“He is into second in the tryscoring now, so it just shows how good of a year he is having, and he’s so humble, it’s not even about that, it’s about doing his job for the team and that is all he cares about.”
Level with second-placed Gundagai on points, the Dragons will face the Tigers in the final round in a likely battle for the minor premiership.
Before that though, the side will take on Albury on Saturday, a team which has greatly improved since falling 64-4 to Temora in May.
Regardless of the way the remainder of the season pans out, Burley said Temora has already achieved its goal of making the top three and securing a double chance in the finals.
“If you finish minor premiers, you are going to be happy either way, definitely top three was the goal,” he said.
“We could be anywhere in that three all dependent on the next games, but we just need to be focused on Albury this weekend, because they are playing some really good footy, and a bit like the Roos at the start of the year, the results, they are not going to be the same.
“I think Albury have improved out of sight, they’re testing the top of the table teams, so I have got no doubt it’s going to be a really tough game this weekend.”
Brothers will return home to face Southcity in a Wagga derby at Geohex Park on Sunday.
TEMORA 58 (Lachie Cole 3, Jake McGovern 2, Hamish Starr, Billy Reardon, Tyler Madden, Zach Starr, Jimmy Stewart tries; McGovern 9 goals) DEFEATED WAGGA BROTHERS 22 (Luek Anderson 2, Joey Tolhurst, Riley Ivanhu tries; Cohen Benson 3 goals) at Nixon Park, Saturday August 8.
