Already without fullback James Smart, who dislocated his shoulder and humerus bone playing for Riverina, Luff's 100^th first grade game for the Tigers was ruined after he injured his ankle after it twisted awkwardly in a tackle midway through the first half.

It means the Tigers could call upon young dummy half Zac Fairall, who made his first grade debut off the bench against the Dragons, to step up earlier than expected.

"It was Luffy's 100^th first grade game for the Tigers, we were really devastated for him," Gundagai co-coach Luke Berkrey said.

"We'll just wait to hear back from scans and x-rays. It didn't look good but fingers crossed it's not as bad (as we think), but it's a tough pill to swallow.

"Losing James Smart before a ball was kicked to a long term injury and now James Luff, it's a kick in the guts.

"We've had two of Gundagai's best players of the past ten years go down, it hurts a bit but we'll keep moving forward."

Berkrey rates Fairall highly and is confident he can step up, while Chris Rose is another option.

"We've got a good young kid in Xavier Farrell. He got his chance to debut and with a bit of bad luck with James brings an opportunity for a young guy like that," Berkrey said.

"It will be interesting to see what he can do over the next couple of weeks."

The Tigers dominated possession and three second half tries set up the win, with Ryan McQueen, Royce Tout, Dylan Murdoch, Derek Hay and Jack Elphick crossing for four-pointers.

It was a vital win for the defending premiers after they were beaten comprehensively by Tumut in last week's round one grand final rematch.

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"We're happy to get the win but certainly we've got a lot of improvement in us. But the effort was there," he said.

"One thing we spoke about (after the Tumut loss) was the energy we take into the game. Our ball control was pretty good yesterday and we completed in the mid eighties.

"It was a solid game and both teams played quite well at times. I think both teams. can improve a lot."

Tumut coach Josh McCrone was reasonably happy with his team's first hit-out after the opening round bye, however centre Nick Trevaskis could miss a few weeks after picking up a hamstring injury.

"They probably had 70 per cent of possession and won the penalty count," McCrone said.

"To only go down 26-12 to the team that's won the comp the last few years, I'm not too disappointed in that but you still don't want to lose.

"We had to do heaps of defence and we stood up. Toughness is not something you can coach and make people do, but we played tough."

It was also McCrone's first chance to start building a halves partnership with Jai Doherty.

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