Gundagai have moved past their surprise loss to Junee in round one and are now putting opposition sides to the sword.
The band of brothers from Wagga had no chance against the small town club which has held the premiership aloft 5 times in the last 10 seasons.
Coach Hayden Ashcroft was happy with the win, but knows there’s always room for improvement.
Brothers were heading towards being able to enforce the mercy rule if need be with clubs able to request a stop to the game when the score goes past 60, something that shouldn’t exist in a semi pro shop such as Group 9. They didn’t
Ashcroft quickly reflected on the first round loss to Junee when asked about the season thus far.
“With our season so far we have only lost one match and that was to Junee in round one. That was a bit of a shock, but they also have a pretty competitive team. They are a handy side. I think they will be a lot better this year. I think we were just caught off guard a bit. We didn’t have a pre-season trial game or anything like that, so we were probably just off the pace and I don’t know if you want to call it grand final hangover or something like that, we kind of just didn’t turn up with the right attitude and since then, we’ve come up leaps and bounds, I guess we just had a really good look at what we need to do and where we need to be and I think we’ve responded well.
Ashcroft made mention of the continued performance of youngster Jayden Steele, who has both Gundagai and Harden jokingly in argument as to who gets to own him.
Jayden scored a nice try amongst the 9 try scorers.
“Jayden made his debut and he has gone well. He helps offer us a little bit of depth, which is good, just to cover that wing position and obviously it would be nice to have him play some time in 18s as well, just for development.”
The Bell name is synonymous with both Gundagai and Yass and this week saw the return of Cody Bell to the Tigers. Bell helped out on the wing which is probably a little bit further out than he normally plays, but enjoyed playing with Jimmy Morgan and the Gundy lads.
“Picking up Cody is good, obviously, he probably wants to be a little bit closer in the ruck than out there, but I think either way, he’s just a strong ball carrier with skill, so if we can fit him in there somewhere it will be good for us. There will be plenty of opportunity especially if wing isn’t his preferred position, just bide your time and there might be opportunities throughout the year.”
“A good winger is as important as any other position to have in a team. It depends on how involved they want to get, as they can make or break your team.
“You look at Toby Dasey last year, he obviously scored points across the park everywhere and had lightning speed. Cody and Toby are different players, but, you know, a strong ball carrier out of yardage is hard to come by and he can find the line.
Having his second year at the club and with a shift in to the front row, Ashcroft is happy he is at the moment not commuting from Sydney.
“This is my second year at the club. I’m a Wagga boy. I linked back with them last year and I was still living in Sydney with work and then making the trips down on a weekend and then ended up transferring back to Wagga for work and finished the season off there.”
At 29 he is at an excellent age with 10 years of senior footy under the belt.
“I started off playing lock a lot and transitioned from backs throughout the juniors, but moving up front was a bit of a change, which I did last year. It was the first time, but I think the game is just evolving in terms of inner changes and the way we play it.
“It is not all big bodies these days. You look at blokes like Isiah Yeo and Cam Murray and those blokes that play long minutes, I kind of tried playing 80 minutes and saving interchange for our big bodies.
With 138 points for and 36 against, a differential of 102, the Tigers are ahead of the Bulldogs who are coming in to 2026 with plenty of bite. They take on South City at ANZAC Park on Saturday. Be There!
Reserve Grade Brothers 26 – 10 Tigers. U18s Brothers 26 – 6 Tigers. League Tag there was a forfeit.
