Canberra Raiders Cup: Senior Grand Finals Wrap

Author: crrl.com.au
Timestamp: Tue 20 Sep 2022, 03:17 PM

The 2022 Canberra Raiders Cup season has come to an end, after five different clubs were crowned premiers across all five grades.

Canberra Raiders Cup First Grade

West Belconnen Warriors 38 d Queanbeyan Blues 24

Man of the Match: Ryan McQueen (West Belconnen)

The West Belconnen Warriors have secured the minor and major premiership after defeating the Blues at Seiffert Oval on Sunday afternoon.

A man of the match performance from captain coach Ryan McQueen and a hattrick to strike centre Willie Peace set up the victory for the Warriors.

West Belconnen took a commanding 22-6 lead at halftime, piling on four unanswered tries after running into a strong wind.

The Blues conceded an early try off a Roberts' grubber kick which failed to be cleaned up at the back, resulting in a second try to Willie Peace.

Blues backrower Josh Baker looked to get his side back in the game, charging down a fifth tackle kick from the Warriors to run 70 meters and score.

Tristan Eldridge and Atu Tupou both crossed for four-pointers for the Blues and made it a ten-point contest, creating a grandstand finish.

But, Willie Peace put the game to bed, rushing up out of the line to clean up a loose ball and win the Warriors their first premiership since 2016.

Canberra Raiders Cup Reserve Grade

Queanbeyan Kangaroos 24 d Gungahlin Bulls 22

Man of the Match: Kaine Pagura (Queanbeyan Kangaroos)

The Kangaroos upset the minor premiers, Gungahlin Bulls 24-22 in the Reserve Grade Grand Final on Sunday afternoon.

In what was a see-sawing affair, the game came down to the final seconds where the Kangaroos hung on to win the premiership.

Both sides traded tries in the first half, but a clever chip kick from Jordan Macey set-up an incredible individual try from best-on-ground Kaine Pagura to give the Roos a 14-10 lead at the break.

Gungahlin came back out with plenty of intent, setting up a miraculous indiviudal try from centre Kane Allen who streaked 90 metres to regain a 22-18 lead with less than ten minutes to go.

Queanbeyan five-eighth Luke Jones played short to backrower Charles Sauer who strolled over to lock the scores at 22-all.

Daniel Reid lined up the conversion and nailed it despite some friendly feedback from the Gungahlin crowd.

Gungahlin had one last roll of the dice to try and score but Queanbeyan's hard working defence held them out to clinch the premiership with a 24-22 win.

Katrina Fanning Shield

Yass Magpies 36 d Woden Valley Rams 12

Player of the Match: Tijana Zdravevska (Yass)

The Magpies have astonishingly finished their 2022 Katrina Fanning Shield campaign undefeated, after dominating the Woden Valley Rams 36-12 in the Grand Final on Sunday afternoon.

Their opening fifteen minutes set up the remainder of the contest, starving Woden of the ball while piling on 20 unanswered points.

The halftime score resulted in a commanding 32-nil lead to Yass after early try doubles to Alanna Dummett, Tijana Zdravevska and Sami Afele.

Woden ended up winning the second half 12-6 with consolation tries to Zali Waihape and Eloise Ryan.

But Yass were too strong, crossing for a late try was Tijana Zdravevska to bring up her Grand Final hattrick where she was awarded the player of the match.

Canberra Raiders Cup Under 19's

Queanbeyan Blues 18 d Gungahlin Bulls 16

Man of the Match: Lester Davis (Queanbeyan)

The Queanbeyan Blues took out the Under 19's premiership in stunning fashion, pipping a gallant Bulls outfit by 2 points in the dying stages to win 18-16.

Queanbeyan were the first to strike, soon after defending their line for the opening ten minutes, crossed for their first through a strong carry from front rower Lester Davis.

A six-nil lead soon became 16-nil, after a strong first half performance set-up tries for Mark Connors and Jack Anderson which capped off a perfect half of footy from the minor premiers.

Gungahlin, who had a number of chances in the first 30 minutes which were let down by unforced mistakes, came out a different side in the second half.

Bulls' forwards Jayden Ford and Jordan Eti laid the platform for their backs who were clinical in the second period.

Gungahlin fullback Ethan Miller swept behind a great attacking play to put centre William O'Malley over for the Bulls' first try of the day.

Queanbeyan's illdiscipline began to let them down, forced to defend several sets on their line until the floodgates finally opened.

Cameron Karlov tapped and scored the simplest of tries to close the gap to 16-10.

Blues forward Jayden Svager was sent to the bin for ten minutes for a high shot which the Bulls took full advantage of, scoring in the corner to lock-up the scores with ten minutes to go.

The momentum was all with the Bulls until a controversial send-off to their halfback Noah Marcantonio took the life out of the visitors.

The Bulls were then pinned for a shoulder charge right in-front of the sticks where the Blues had no other choice but to take the shot at goal.

Mitchell Evans had no problems giving them the two-point lead with only minutes remaining, where their defence held strong to gift them the premiership.