THE Tumut Blues are expecting to be pushed to the limit when they take on the Southcity Bulls in Wagga this Sunday.
“Southcity are usually a hot and cold team, but they are always good at home, and it’s always a worry after we’ve played Gundagai, so it will be a tough game and we’re not taking them lightly,” Tumut coach Dean Bristow said.
The Bulls have scored the one win this season, 28-24 over the Junee Diesels in round one.
The Blues have had to do some reshuffling due to the unavailability of players.
“We’ve lost Lewis Arragon to work commitments, and Trae King is out,” Bristow said.
Shay Thomas will come in to the forwards to cover for Arragon, and Zac Treglown will come into the side on the wing and Billy Bridgeman will move to centre. All other key positions will be the same as in the Gundagai game.
The Blues may have won last week but are still a work in progress in 2025.
“We reviewed the game on Tuesday night and there are a few lessons to be taken from it,” Bristow said.
“We have a lot of improvement to do.”
One of the best aspects of last Saturday’s performance actually highlighted the need to improve.
“We completed at 93 per cent; we only made three errors, but we only just beat Gundagai, so there are obviously other areas of our game we need to work on, like our defence on the edges and on the left side,” Bristow said.
“Our attack hasn’t fully clicked yet.”
Bristow believes this Sunday’s game will be a good test to see where the Blues are at.
“We are looking forward to the challenge.”
The Bulls are unbeaten in reserve grade and their Tumut counterparts scored a gritty win over Gundagai on Saturday, so the stage is set for a quality game.
“I expect they’ll be tough but I have full faith that the boys can get the job done,” coach Jack Dean said.
The Blues won’t be at 100 per cent strength, but they’ll be close to it.
“We have a few little injuries so a couple out unfortunately but the other boys are more then capable of filling in and doing the job,” Dean said.
“We just need to fix up our discipline from last week and I’m sure we will be fine.”
The Blues league tag side are in good spirits after their come-from-behind win against Gundagai last week, but they are not alone in this.
“Southcity are coming off a good win; their first win, so they’ll have a bit of confidence,” Tumut captain-coach Brigid Rhynehart said.
Chelsea Angus and Reece Keen, who were unavailable last week, will be back in the team for Sunday.
“We are back to full strength so it should be a good, close game.”
The under 18s game is scheduled for 11am and women’s tackle is on at 12.10pm.
