Tallon Smith

Group 9’s longest-standing rivalry will re-ignite this Sunday when Temora and Wagga Brothers meet in a rematch of last year’s epic league tag grand final at Geohex Park.

The two clubs have had an unprecedented level of dominance, winning 14 of the 17 premierships since the competition was introduced in 2008, and competing in four of the past five grand finals.

After Brothers took the win in the latest instalment of the grand final battles between the two sides 16-14 last year, Temora coach Emily Perrot said that result is a source of motivation for her team, but ultimately, their focus is on the challenge ahead.

“I think obviously it’s been spoken about, but we’re just trying to focus on ourselves and do the little things right and just make sure we prepare how we need to and go in confident,” she said.

“I think any time Brothers and Temora come together it’s always a competitive game, and I think it’s always probably the biggest game to watch for the year.

“As long as we go and do our best, that’s all I can ask of them.”

Unsurprisingly given their dominance, the two sides have met already in the finals series, with minor premiers Brothers getting the win and a week off in the major semi final at Nixon Park a fortnight ago.

Perrot said the Dragons’ performance that day wasn’t their best, and that her team has addressed the areas needing improvement heading into Sunday’s decider, where they will be cheered on by a large crowd supporting three Temora sides aiming for silverware.

“[It was] probably a bit of a wake-up call for us just to say it’s not going to be that easy to beat them and they are a very good side,” she said.

“We probably didn’t play our best game of the year, but going into this game there’s a few things we’ve got to fix up with our defence and that sort of thing.

“All the young girls are all very excited and they’re all confident in themselves and they should be, they’ve had a really good year.

“If we play our best game we’re definitely going to be there with them.”

While Brothers will be aiming for back-to-back titles in the league tag, their involvement in grand final day extends well beyond just the opening match of the day.

Similarly to Temora, the Wagga outfit also has three teams playing on grand final day, with its women’s tackle and under 18s teams facing Junee and cross-town rivals Wagga Kangaroos respectively.

After finishing as minor premiers of the women’s tackle competition as well, before defeating Junee 18-6 in the major semi final to move through to the big dance, Brothers coach Bernie Delaney is expecting a great game when the two sides meet in a rematch of that clash at Temora a fortnight ago.

“They’re two great sides, it should be a great game of football,” he said.

“Yes we did beat them in the major semi final, but that means nothing when it gets to the big one, and they were quite impressive against Southcity last week, they’ll be very strong.

“We’re quietly confident, but I’m tipping Junee are the same.”

Should they get the job done, the Brothers side will complete a unique feat in winning consecutive premierships as different clubs, after the Estella Storm team which finished as runners-up last season joined the Brothers setup leading into the 2026 campaign.

Delaney said making the grand final in the first season as part of the club was a great feat, and provided a further boost to Brothers’ remarkable rise from adversity to a joint club championship alongside Temora this season.

“It’s been an amazing turnaround, small steps but small steps are starting to pay off,” he said.

“As far as Brothers going forward, they’re making steps in the right direction, there’s good people around the club.

“You’ve got to take into account this is the first Brothers ladies tackle side ever as well, last year was Estella Storm, and they invited us in, so to make the grand final that is an amazing achievement and the girls are a lot more settled this year than the ones that played last year.

“They’re a lot more calm about it this week, but they’re up and about, and I’m tipping Junee will be too.”

The league tag match kicks off at 9:30am, with the women’s tackle clash set for 12:10pm.