Jack Elphick was super in his 50th.
The Gundagai Tigers have soared up to second place on the Group 9 ladder after a close 22-14 win over the South City Bulls.
Despite Gundagai’s recent strong form and South City’s contrasting poor form, it was the Bulls who opened up an early lead against the Tigers. The Tigers used their class in the second half to overcome a tumultuous first half and ultimately came out of Wagga victors.
The Tigers will get to host the Junee Diesels this weekend. The Diesels will once again be bolstered after last week adding Ben Shea, and this week adding French international Mickaël Goudemand to the team that came out winners against Cootamundra last week.
Coach Aaron Gorrell thought his side controlled the game well, “We started slow whilst they started physical and fast which caught us out. We went into halftime down 14-6, but I don’t think we were ever in too much doubt. We didn’t lose control and the second half we came up with was; for the conditions an excellent one. The boys dug in deep and pulled out the win.”
“We ticked another box by coming from behind and winning, it’s not easy to do against any side but we showed that we can dig in and find points when we need to. It was a pleasing effort.
“We are still a work in progress. It’s always nice to be sitting at the top end of the table, but we’re not going to get carried away. We’ve got to keep working, we’ve got some big games in the next five weeks.
“To be the best you have to beat the best, we’ve done the first part of winning the games we were probably expected to win, now it’s about carrying that momentum into the games against the top five/six and bringing two points away from those games.
“Jack Elphick was flawless. It was his 50th, so it was good for him to get a double and the win. Derek Hay and Royce Tout were great as well, we didn’t have a bad player, but they were probably our best.
“We had a couple out, but that’s probably the closest we’ve been to full strength all year. It was good to get everyone out there.
“I don’t think there’s an easy game in this competition, so you have got to be at your best week in, week out. We’ve seen that through the upsets that have happened. We have to keep making sure that we get our backyard right and keep working hard and moving forward.
“We’ve got to be good across the park. We won’t be implementing anything new, we know how we want to play and if we do that, I’m sure we will be okay.
“We have to make sure we don’t go in taking anybody lightly. We will be ready. It would be good to have another Saturday game; we haven’t had one in a while. We are looking forward to it.”
Elsewhere in Group 9, the Wagga Kangaroos got a slice of revenge against the Young Cherrypickers in their Grand Final rematch, Temora and Albury couldn’t find a winner after 80 minutes sharing the points 22-22, and Tumut was too strong for the winless Wagga Brothers.
Group 9 Draw Saturday, June 21 – Sunday June 22.
Gundagai Tigers vs Junee Diesels Saturday 2:35 pm at Anzac Park.
Albury Thunder vs Wagga Kangaroos. Young Cherrypickers vs Tumut Blues. Wagga Brothers vs South City Bulls. Cootamundra Bulldogs vs Temora Dragons.
Group 9 Ladder.
1. Wagga Kangaroos, 16pts, 240.
2. Gundagai Tigers, 12pts, 80.
3. Temora Dragons, 11pts, 118.
4. Tumut Blues, 11pts, -4.
5. Young Cherrypickers, 8pts, 122.
6. Albury Thunder, 8pts, 52.
7. Junee Diesels, 6pts, -82.
8. South City Bulls, 4pts, -70.
9. Cootamundra Bulldogs, 4pts, -76.
10. Wagga Brothers, 0pts, -380.
-Tully Potts
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