Awesome, thank you!!! Once my gba file was patched, I was able to play GG with rumble working on my Odin (1), Anbernic RG353M and my Powkiddy RGB30 (see ArkOS wiki on RGB30 for info on adding rumble). I also tried on my Miyoo Mini v2, but Drill Dozer wasn't rumbling on it; I likely need to do some updates on it first. I don't have a rumble pack for my Analogue Pocket, so I wasn't able to test on it.
Overall, I'd say this issue is solved with the simple workaround. Thanks!