Season Preview 2025: Tuggeranong Bushrangers

The Tuggeranong Bushrangers will be boosted by the return of captain-coach Darby Medlyn in the 2025 Blumers Lawyers Canberra Raiders Cup.

Meanwhile, in the Katrina Fanning Shield and League Tag competitions, Tuggeranong will be aiming for significant improvement after difficult 2024 campaigns.

In the 2023 Canberra Raiders Cup grand final, Medlyn suffered an injury that ruled him out for the entire 2024 season, where the Bushrangers finished fifth with a 6-10 record. Now, he returns as captain-coach, eager to make an impact.

“I’ve really missed the last year being away,” Medlyn said.

“What’s brought me back is the club, all my mates that’re there - I’m just really keen to get back and have a run.”

“Last time I played for them, we fell short in a grand final, so there’s plenty of fire in the belly. Everyone’s really committed at the moment, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there.”

With the departure of Jason Kelly, Medlyn will co-coach alongside Brendan Bradley and is enjoying the dynamic.

“He’s an older head, keeps everyone really honest, myself included. It’s been a lot of fun so far with training and the way we’re preparing for the season.”

In the Blumers Lawyers Katrina Fanning Shield, Tuggeranong struggled in 2024, finishing second to last on the ladder.

Kiralee Eppelstun attributed their struggles to low player numbers but says things are looking much better this year.

“It was pretty rough at the end of last year - we had pretty low numbers and were playing short a lot of games - but coming into this season, all the girls we had have come back, plus some new faces,” Eppelstun said.

“As a whole club, we’re looking really good, gelling together really nicely. Even with the Tag girls - a few of them are wanting to come and play tackle this year as well.”

In League Tag, the Bushrangers have been focused on improving their attack after struggling to put points on the board last season.

Dee Grouge spoke about this and the belief within the squad.

“I think we started strong with our culture and our defence, the biggest lesson was our attack and what we need to bring this year," Grouge said.

“You can’t fault the belief in our team, and I think that’s one of our key strengths. We just keep building on that, and I’m really proud of our team for that.”

In Reserve Grade, Tuggeranong had a disappointing season, finishing seventh after making the grand final the previous year. Medlyn is confident in the squad’s depth heading into 2025.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what our squad can do. We’re really competitive, especially in Reserve Grade too - we’ve got a fair bit of depth.”

The Bushrangers' young guns in the Under 19s competition enjoyed a strong season, making it to the semi-finals. They'll look to build on that success and push further in 2025.