In another thrilling contest between the two arch rivals, the Blues scored twice in the last 18 minutes to run out 20-10 winners over Gundagai in front of a bumper crowd at Anzac Park on Saturday.

In a game that once again lived up to expectations, Tumut had plenty of opportunities early in the first half but struggled with their execution.

Despite blowing plenty of chances of their own, co-coach Lachlan Bristow was thrilled with how the team kept fighting off the Gundagai resistance.

"It was very tough as we expected and they came out really solid with their defence and we couldn't really crack them," Bristow said.

"We had lots of ball in our good ball area but probably weren't squaring up enough and couldn't really capitalise until a bit later."

READ MORE

Bristow scored twice to be judged the Bronc Jones-Ray Beaven Medal winner.

Both were from dummy half with his second breaking the deadlock and giving the Blues plenty of momentum.

Mitch Ivill then sealed the win when he slid through a gap with five minutes to play.

Tumut have now gone half the season without a loss.

Bristow believes the tough tussle was just what they needed heading into a clash with Kangaroos at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Wagga side is the only team to get the better of them so far this season.

"It was one of the toughest games yet so to scrap away and come up with a win builds lots of character," he said.

"We really needed a tough one like that."

Tumut had plenty of chances to strike early as the Gundagai error rate quickly built up.

However they struggled for cohesion and either let the Tigers off the hook with poor passes not hitting their mark or through poor kicking.

It took 32 minutes to find their way over but a glut of possession finally broke the Gundagai defence as Tolo Aroha-Tuinauvai stormed through.

Bristow then made it two tries in a row after capitalising on a mistake at the back to score.

Just when it looked like the Blues were well on top, Gundagai were quick to respond as Dane O'Hehir set up Damian Willis to cut Tumut's advantage to 10-4 at half-time.

After a poor defensive effort let the Gundagai back into the contest, Tumut then thought they had extended their lead four minutes after the break but Tom Jeffery was ruled to have lost the ball over the line.

Gundagai then took advantage of their own glut of possession on Tumut's line when Luke Berkrey scored off a rebounding Derek Hay kick to level things with 22 minutes to play.

However Bristow responded four minutes later to edge the Blues back in front.

Vaughn Scott was then denied a try after being ruled to have lost the ball while trying to place down a kick from Hay.

Tumut took advantage of a dropped kick as Ivill sealed the game and ensured the Maher Cup returned to Tumut.

With the historic trophy coming out for the 100^th anniversaries of both clubs and the challenge competition, it was icing on the cake for a good day for the Blues.

"It's just an added bonus," Bristow said.

"When you beat Gundagai it is always good but to throw the history of the Maher Cup in it makes it even sweeter."

While Bristow was named best in the win, it was the team's attitude which pleased him the most.

"It was our effort and attitude to just keep turning up for one another," he said.

"Early on in the second half they had so much ball down there in their end but we kept turning them away.

"It was very pleasing."

However Aroha-Tuinauvai and Ron Leapai posed plenty of problems for Gundagai while Lewis Arragon really made an impact off the bench returning from injury.

Bristow thought his injection helped turn the tide.