Brothers returned to winning ways, but only just at Equex Centre on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite two late tries from Jake Goodwin Cootamundra couldn’t deliver the punishing as they fell 26-22.
Neither side managed to dominant the contest but the Wagga side were on top for the most of the clash.
After the loss to Gundagai knocked them off the top of the ladder, Brothers set up a massive clash with Southcity next week.
However coach Terry Westblade knows they will need to improve to get the better of the Bulls once more and reclaim first place.
“I wasn’t very happy at all,” Westblade said.
“Our game management is really poor and I was disappointed.
“We kept making wrong decision and silly errors that give them the ball and make the errors on tackle two or tackle three of a set.
“Had we played Southcity today they probably would have beaten us by 50.”
Halfback Cameron Breust is in big doubt for the game after suffering another ankle injury in the win.
He’s been troubled by it for months now, but seems to have picked up a different issue this time around.
Westblade thought the side were notably different without him.
“Once he went off it was a bit clunky around the middle and it looks rather bad,” he said. “We will have to weigh that up.”
Brothers looked to be heading for a comfortable win before the game sparked to life.
The two teams when try for try in the first stanza before Cade Price went 60 metres to give Brothers a 14-10 lead at half-time.
Tries to Ethan MacKenzie and Patrick Sagigi gave Brothers a 24-10 advantage before Goodwin made his presence felt.
He scored off a Glen Buttriss grubber kick with 14 minutes to play before finding himself in a yawning gap to cross for his second with five remaining to get his side within two points.
However Moe Clune was penalised for not playing the ball straight shortly after the restart.
Harold Kirby slotted a penalty goal to increase Brothers buffer before he dropped the short restart to give Cootamundra another shot at their line.
They went close with Buttriss held up over the line but a knock on from Matt Forsyth ended the Bulldogs revival.
They’ve slipped to sixth on the Group Nine ladder with their percentage keeping them outside the top four despite being level on points with Tumut and Junee.
Brothers have only lost twice so far this season, but Westblade is looking for more.
“Our ability to control the match is just not there and we talked about it at half-time,” he said.
“We can’t play in the moment and not make those silly errors.”