The Roos hop into the grand final after a dominant win over the Sharks

The Queanbeyan Kangaroos have cemented their spot in the Blumers Lawyers Canberra Raiders Cup grand final after comfortably defeating the Belconnen United Sharks 40-10 on Sunday.

The Roos set the tone early with a strong opening defensive set, asserting their authority early on in the game and keeping the Sharks inside their own half.

Off the back of a strong first attacking set, the Roos were awarded a set restart 10m out from the Sharks line.

Queanbeyan pounced at this opportunity, with Sam Williams putting centre Joshua Davies through a hole on the left edge with a smart short ball to score in the second minute.

Williams converted to give the visitors an early 6-0 lead.

The Roos continued to pile on the pressure, with momentum on their side they marched down the field, where Williams coordinated another attack, going himself and crossing over the chalk in the seventh minute.

Williams successfully converted his own try to boost Queanbeyan’s lead to 12-0.

With the hosts on the back foot, they put their head down and worked their way up field, appearing to score in the 13th minute, but it was quickly overruled due to obstruction.

The visitors did not take this lifeline for granted, getting on the attack immediately and scoring in the 15th minute thanks to a smart play from dummy-half Lachlan Ingram, putting boot to ball to find Thomas Williams on the right wing to score.

The conversion by Sam Williams was successful, giving Queanbeyan an 18-0 lead.

Things appeared to turn from bad to worse for the home side, with a promising attack abruptly halted as the Sharks fullback Darcy Leadbitter suffered a knee injury, forcing him to leave the field of play in the 21st minute.

Despite this, the Sharks showed true grit and determination, replying just before the break with half Jack Beagley drawing in the opposition defence, allowing centre David Williams to score down the right edge in the 32nd minute.  

Beagley was successful in converting, reducing the Roos lead to 18-6 at halftime.

Returning from the Sheds, Queanbeyan continued to be ruthless, scoring in the 43rd minute thanks to a magical offload by Jesse Dent, allowing Iosia Soliola to fall over the line and score with ease.

Williams converted to make it 24-6.

Jay Slavin took matters into his own hands for Belconnen, with some fancy footwork allowing him to squeeze through the Roos defence and gain some much-needed metres.

Off the back of this play, Roos Jake Kiely was sent to the sin bin in the 47th minute for a professional foul by failing to be square at marker, leaving Queanbeyan down to 12 men.

The Sharks bit back here, with the experienced Zac Patch throwing a pinpoint cutout pass for Geoge Wood to score on the right wing in the 49th minute.

Beagley was unable to convert from out wide, leaving the score settled at 24-10.

The Roos weren’t going to let the hosts claw their way back into the battle that easily, with Sam Williams combining with Harry Quinlan out wide to find Thomas Williams on the wing to score and complete his double in the 55th minute.

Sam Williams converted once again to further Queanbeyan’s lead to 30-10.

In the 59th minute, Roos fullback Kaine Pagura attacked in broken play, putting a grubber through for himself to score next to the sticks. Willams converted to make it 36-10.

The visitors put the nail in the coffin in the 77th minute, with Jake Kiely scoring on the left wing to boast a comfortable 40-10 lead before the siren.

Quinlan was unable to convert from the sideline, leaving the Roos to defeat the Sharks 40-10 and cement their place in the grand final next Sunday.