HAUNTED by 28 years of premiership heartache, Gundagai yesterday dusted off Tumut in the Group Nine preliminary final at Anzac Park to get another chance at breaking its grand final jinx.
Without a Group Nine title since Cliffy Lyons inspired a 40- 14 victory over Young in 1983, the Tigers earned a crack at Southcity in Sunday’s decider with a dominant 22-12 triumph yesterday.
On the back of an 8-5 penalty count, and an overwhelming share of possession, Gundagai broke away with a 20-0 lead by half-time before Tumut launched a stubborn rearguard action.
Given more of the football, Tumut scored the only two tries of the second half to raise the faintest of hope of a miracle revival.
Ultimately, however, the Blues came up short and its Group Nine premiership defence was snuffed out.
With last year’s champion out of the way, Gundagai is now gunning for Southcity to end its almost three decades of premiership misery.
In a shattering sequence, the Tigers have played in seven grand finals since their last success and come up empty every time.
For youthful Gundagai captain-coach James Smart, history is not the problem ahead of the showdown with Southcity at Equex Centre in Wagga.
Smart yesterday revealed the Tigers did not need unnecessary distractions in the critical leadup to the most important game of the season.
“We have to stay composed and keep a lid on things,” Smart said.
“We’ve probably focused too much on Southcity the last couple of times we’ve played ... and that’s my error.
“This time we have to focus on ourselves.”
Smart’s subtle change of approach to the upcoming premiership duel with Southcity was in contrast to the dramatic improvement of the Tigers yesterday.
Completely outgunned by the Bulls in the major semi-final a week ago, Gundagai yesterday produced a performance of similar authority to eliminate the Blues.
Taking advantage of a flow of deserved penalties, Gundagai mounted enormous pressure on Tumut in the opening 20 minutes, but still got only a paltry result.
When Smart sliced through to score a try off a clever pass from Brett Eccleston in the 12th minute, it was a reward for persistence and seemed likely to break the Blues resolve and resistance.
Against the odds, Tumut withstood a series of raids and a paltry penalty goal to Smart in the 24th minute was only enough to push the lead to 8-0.
Quick as wink, the Tigers pounced for two tries in three minutes to blow the Blues out of the game and take a place in the grand final.
As Smart said later, Gundagai “set up” its victory in the first half.
“We got possession and we made the most of it,” he said.
“(Possession) even up in the second half and we dug deep.”
Gundagai five-eighth Chris Rose created a try for winger Ben Reardon with a stunning 20-metre pass in the 32nd minute.
Minutes later Rose and Reardon combined again in a spectacular interchange before Rose scored a telling try as the Tigers roared ahead 20-0.
Tumut responded to the challenge in the second half, with Josh Toohey scoring a super try in the 54th minute before giving a superb offload for teenager Lachlan Bristow to score in the 68th minute.
Even down only 20-12, the Blues never seriously threatened, but the crowd that paid a record $11,865 at the gate got value for money.
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