A strong top filtered down to a reserve grade side which would give most first grade sides a run for their money these days. 

Under coach Mick Axsentieff in 2006, the young side fell one game short of the grand final so heading into 2007 confidence was high and the drive to go one better was strong. 

“We had a lot of young footballers with natural ability and good heads for football,” Axsentieff said during a reunion held at Fisher Park on Saturday. 

It was the days when seasons were long, each team playing eachother twice. 

Twenty three games were played culminating in an impressive 40-10 victory over cross-town rivals the Young Cherrypickers. 

The grand final played was the last one ever at Wagga’s Eric Weissel Oval giving the Bulldogs a small slice of history in that regard. 

The decade-old premiership marks the last senior premiership won by the Bulldogs, although there have been victories during the last game of the season from the younger age divisions since. 

Prior to that, the Bulldogs had experienced a 25-year premiership drought. 

Axsentieff puts the success of his reserve grade side that year down to the competition for playing spots which existed in the club. 

With a plethora of talent, players were vying to be part of the first grade side and reggies’ strength flowed from this. 

“The standard was really high,” Axsentieff, who originally came from Casino, said. 

Only 10 years on, some of the players from the team are still playing today, including Aaron Byrne, although he will spend this season sidelined through injury. 

The reunion was organised by the players themselves and was an opportunity for those blokes who remain in the local area to catch up with their old comrades who have moved away. 

The reunion was just one facet of a big day for the Cootamundra Rugby League Football Club with an Old Boys gathering held in conjunction and the fundraising ball drop a highlight of the day.