OBERON Tigers premier league side went down 42-22 against the Mudgee Dragons at Oberon on Saturday.
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Coach Zac Rowlandson hopes the club’s three-team appearance in the finals series is the beginning of something special.
A vocal and passionate Tigers crowd turned up on Saturday to watch their club take part in premier league, reserve grade and under 18s elimination finals.
It was a big moment for the Tigers as they welcomed a Group 10 finals match to the town for the first time in 50 years. The last time the Tigers had managed to get all three men’s grades into the finals series was in 1976.
Rowlandson came to the premier league coaching role with the ambition of turning the club around from wooden-spooners to Group 10 champions.
Although he’s come up short in that goal, he’s hopeful the interest generated by the club’s results this season leads to bigger things.
“To go from last to where we got to is still a pretty big turnaround, so it’s hard not to be proud of it,” he said.
“We showed our potential and we’ve got a lot of young blokes that are coming through, so there’s a lot to look forward to.”
The coach said the loss was somewhat easier to take knowing that the Dragons put in a super performance.
First division went down 14-12 against the Cowra Magpies, while the Bathurst Panthers knocked the hosts out of under 18s with a 28-20 victory.