Canberra Raiders Cup: Week One Finals Wrap

Week one of the Blumers Lawyers Canberra Raiders Cup finals is in the books with the Warriors booking an early ticket to the grand final after the Blues eliminated the Bushrangers.

Major Semi-final

West Belconnen Warriors 46 d Woden Valley Rams 10

The West Belconnen Warriors have booked themselves a spot in the Canberra Raiders Cup grand final with an emphatic 46-10 win over the Woden Valley at Raiders Belconnen on Sunday afternoon.

A monster first half from the home side was too much to overcome for the Rams with the Warriors finding themselves up by 40-points at halftime.

West Belconnen duo Brandon Withers and Mitchell Shaw had an unmatched ability to get across the line throughout the match scoring a hat-trick and a double respectively.

Woden dummy-half Kosta Posantzis was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul in the seventh minute which played a pivotal role in the contest, applying tons of pressure on the Rams defence.

The Rams struggled to respond after the sin bin, conceding seven first half tries, after not conceding more than 36 points all season.

The visitors managed to snag two consolation tries through Harrison Cannon and Scott Swanson in the second half which wasn’t enough to give them a fighting chance.

Given the Rams finished in the top two, they get a second bite at the cherry with them facing off against the Queanbeyan Blues at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval this Sunday.

Minor Semi-final

Queanbeyan Blues 32 d Tuggeranong Bushrangers 14

The Queanbeyan Blues have kept their season alive with an 18-point win over Tuggeranong at Greenway Oval on Saturday afternoon.

It was a tightly contested opening half of football with the Blues scoring the first two tries before Bushrangers captain Zac Saddler crashed over for a double to make it a close game.

Scores were tied at 14-all going into halftime but it was all Queanbeyan from there, with the visitors running in three unanswered tries to steal the game.

With the minor semi-final being an elimination game, the loss means the end of the 2022 season for Tuggeranong who were poised to win the minor premiership only a week ago.

For the Blues, they will continue through to the preliminary final against Woden, who they’ve played twice this year and have split results with one win each.