Goulburn's NRL class stood tall to help win their second West Wyalong Knockout crown in five years on Saturday.
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Former Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm hooker James Aubusson was the match winner as he stretched over the line to score in the second period of extra time to down Brothers 12-6.
Goulburn eased through the preliminary rounds, including a 30-0 win over Young in the semi-final, but pushed to the limit by the Wagga club in the decider.
Coach Adam Kyle was pleased to come away with the hard-fought win.
"We came into the weekend knowing we would have to play our best football in the final game and we probably did that," Kyle said.
"It took us a bit of time to get into to groove and get our match play together as this is really the first time we've had a go together as a squad.
"We saved our best for last and it was a tight, grindy game so I'm really happy to win."
The Bulldogs last won at West Wyalong in 2015 and went on to make the Canberra Raiders Cup final that season.
Goulburn opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Chris Whatman powered his way through the Brothers defence.
The Bulldogs led 6-0 at the break only for Brothers to equalise with six minutes remaining.
Neither team got over the line in the first period of extra time before a dropped bomb gave Goulburn the ball 10 metres out and Aubusson pounced on the opportunity.
With Mitch Cornish returning home this season there is plenty of NRL experience in the side and it showed when it counted most.
"When you get to clutch moments like that it is when we look to those players to make a difference and they certainly did that," Kyle said.
In his second year at the helm, Kyle is hoping their pre-season success can kick start a big year.
"We came into this season wanting to win trophies and this is the start of the season and a good way to start" he said.
"We've got a couple more pre-season competitions we've entered in but obviously the Canberra competition is a couple of weeks away and we will be looking to make a mark in that for sure."
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