The Gary Jones-coached GN Tiger Under 16s beat Bidgee Bulls 30-20 in their final but the Darryl Rando-coached senior Tigers lost to their southern counterparts, Riverina, 32-22 on Saturday afternoon.

The GN Tiger Under 16s and 18s also had Country selection success with two of the 18s – Glen Innes’s Brayden Gallagher and Merriwa’s Lachlan Walmsley – selected in the Country Under 18s to tour New Zealand this Friday.

The Tigers 16s had five named in the Country team to leave for New Zealand after their win – Mark Fogarty (Singleton), James Bradley (Singleton), Jack Patterson (Farrer), Alec Cocking (Farrer) and Tom Baker (Farrer).

Tiger 16s coach Gary Jones was delighted with the win and the selections.

“I was happy with that although we could have got a few extras as well,” he said of a side that led throughout and withstood a stunning start of the second half.

Leading 16-4 at halftime after a dominant first half, the Tigers were behind their tryline after just 40 seconds of the second half following an early error from the kick-off and a barging try from big Bidgee prop Thomas Hazelton.

Then a booming 40-20 from Max Burey set up the Bulls just a few minutes later for skipper Luke McBeth to crash over and level it up at 16-all.

“They blew us off the park in that first five minutes,” Jones said.

“But the boys steadied. They all played well – everyone contributed.

Five-eighth  Bradley was a standout, scoring two tries and setting up another two. He and Cocking were joint players’ player award winners.

The senior Tigers tried hard but found it tough against a bigger side and a lopsided penalty count.

A brilliant Joey Griffiths- masterminded try just before halftime dragged the side back to a 14-12 deficit but the first half of the second half was all Riverina after halfback Kyle McCarthy broke clear to score a good individual try less than two minutes into the final term.

A few minutes later and Scone fullback Tim Smith was held up over the line for the second time but nothing went right for the Tigers, with errors and a string of penalties enabling Riverina to take control with tries from Warren Loy and hooker Aaron Byrnes.

Tim Smith and Aaron Donnelly did score late tries but it was too little too late.

Rando was disappointed his side had not kicked on from its previous two wins.

“They (Riverina) were the better side on the day.

“We had our chances but didn’t play well enough. 

“We probably saved our worst for last.”

“But the boys have been brilliant the last month.

“I can’t question their effort – just their execution.”

Ben Hagan was named the Tigers’ players’ player of the final.