The Monaro Colts were defeated in both the Women's Country Championships and Regional Lisa Fiaola Cup by the Western Rams on Sunday, which puts an end to their 2024 campaigns.
Despite both sides securing dominant wins against the Riverina Bulls last week, the two-round competition format meant they had to win their next match in order to progress through to the grand final.
The two exciting and hard fought matchups saw Monaro fall short 20-10 in the WCC and 22-16 in the RLF Cup, which advances the Rams into the grand final of both competitions.
The Western Rams will face the North Coast Bulldogs in the WCC and the Northern Tigers in the RLF Cup in this Saturday's grand final matchups.
Regional Lisa Fiaola Cup
Western Rams 22 d Monaro Colts 16
The game was in the balance for the full 60 minutes with multiple lead swaps and a heart breaking finish.
Both sides got into the defensive grind in the first half, barely giving an inch to their oppositions attack, but it was Monaro who were able to crack the Rams defence on two occasions to go into the break leading 10-0.
Following her four try affair last week, second rower Uta Uatisone Poka got Monaro on the board after being put through a hole by five-eighth Sabrina Marela off the scrum and surging 50 metres to score.
A few minutes prior to half-time, Marela set up another four-pointer by putting a cheeky chip kick into the in-goal which bounced perfectly for her halfback Adelaide Norris to score.
The Rams found their groove in attack upon returning to the field and snatched the lead by scoring two quick tries in similar fashion with interchange forward Adda Craig and prop Alana O'loughlin both barging over from close range.
With 10 minutes remaining, Monaro were able to claim their lead back through prop Mila Ahkey being unstoppable close to the line.
The Rams tied the game up in the dying minutes with a try from lock Grace Macgregor, leaving a game-deciding conversion for their kicker which was eventually missed.
The Rams got into the attacking zone on the brink of fulltime and for their last stitch effort the ball was given to prop Sala Camaira to try burrow her way through.
With five defenders on her, it looked like she was going to be held up but somehow Camaira found a way to reach down and plant the ball on the line as the siren sounded, breaking the Monaro hearts.
Women's Country Championships
Western Rams 20 d Monaro Colts 10
Although Monaro were able to give themselves a glimmer of hope, the Rams put in a resilient performance to shut down the Colts and secure a grand final spot.
Rams captain and second rower lead from the front, opening up the scoring by receiving early ball and breaking through to go 30 metres and score her sides first try.
The Rams went on to score two more, first by capitalising on a Monaro drop ball off a high bomb, and second with a quick shift to beat Monaro on the left edge.
Winger Caitlin Turnbull got Monaro on the board nearing the break by running across field close to line, searching for a gap to sneak through and plant the ball down to bring the scores to 16-6 at half time.
The Rams extended to their lead early into the second half by finding the overlap on the short side in the attacking zone, using simple draw and pass to score and make it hard for Monaro to come back.
Centre Madyson Tooth burnt through a backtracking Rams defence and carried multiple defenders with her over the line to give her side some hope with 10 minutes left.
However, the Rams were able to hold out for the remainder and secured their ticket to the grand final.
