There is absolutely no denying that the Wagga Brothers League Tag team has been the most dominant side in any of the five Group 9 competitions for the past 14 seasons.
In fact, the talent-laden outfit could easily make a case for being one of the strongest League Tag teams in the entire state.
Since League Tag was introduced to the Group 9 competition in 2008, Brothers have won eight premierships in 13 seasons, and they appeared to be on their way to a ninth title in 2021 before the already COVID-19-shortened competition came to an early close due to the impacts of the pandemic.
In a dominant decade of results, Brothers qualified for nine-straight Grand Finals between 2011 and 2019, winning four deciders on either side of their 2015 Grand Final loss to Gundagai.
Chris Suckling, who has been associated with the Group 9 heavyweights for the best part of a decade, has coached Brothers for two seasons. He was more than happy to highlight just how special his group of women were when it came to the sport of Rugby League.
“For sure, and I am not being biased there either,” Suckling said laughing, when asked if the Brothers League Tag side was the most dominant team in any of the Group 9 competitions.
“They are just a good bunch of girls, who are very talented, but they also work very hard.”
Suckling admitted there was a gifted group of players that have been around for most of the club’s success, but he stressed that Brothers were keeping one eye on the future.
“They have been around for a while now and there is a good core group of girls that have been there for a few years now, and they have won a fair few premierships,” Suckling said.
“They have brought in new girls too, which is great, and there are a few girls there playing in some of the more dominant roles.
“There are a fair few girls that are 17 and 18, and while we have a good group of experienced players, we do have some good talent coming through.”
Brothers could very well be on their way to a ninth premiership in 15 years, with the Wagga club unbeaten through the first 12 rounds of the 2022 Group 9 League Tag competition.
Despite their dominant record, Suckling believes his group of players can rise to another level.
“We are undefeated, but they have a pretty high standard, and sometimes they can be disappointed in themselves, and they have a knack of getting out of games,” Suckling said.
“We are playing good, but I reckon we can improve, that’s for sure.”
As far as the rest of the season, Suckling believes there are two opposition teams that are their biggest threat when it comes to winning a ninth title.
“Temora is the team to beat, but Kangaroos beat them on the weekend, so based on that, they are the two teams to beat,” Suckling said.
Brothers are at home to Southcity in Round 13 of the competition before finishing off the season with an away match against Temora in Round 14 (they have back-to-back byes in Rounds 15 and 16).
Suckling didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he is quietly confident his team can go all the way in 2022.
“It’s the old cliché; we’ll take it one game at a time and go from there but I’m confident that if we play to the best of our ability, we can be successful and win the competition,” Suckling said.
Group 9 League Tag Round 12 results: Brothers def Young 24-10; Kangaroos def Temora 22-12; Albury def Southcity 18-6; Tumut def Gundagai 32-12.
Group 9 League Tag Round 13 draw: Tumut v Young; Junee v Gundagai; Albury v Temora; Brothers v Southcity; Kangaroos on the bye.
Group 9 League Tag ladder: Brothers 24, Temora 20, Kangaroos 17, Albury 16, Tumut 12, Young 11, Junee 8, Southcity 6, Gundagai 6.
Group 9 Round 12 results: Young def Brothers 58-10; Temora def Kangaroos 32-20; Gundagai def Tumut 16-14; Southcity def Albury 34-16.
Group 9 Round 13 draw: Tumut v Young; Albury v Temora; Brothers v Southcity; Kangaroos and Gundagai on the bye.
Group 9 ladder: Gundagai 23, Young 22, Temora 20, Tumut 14, Albury 11, Kangaroos 10, Brothers 8, Southcity 8.
