Raiders Roll into Grand Final in Inaugural Season
The Rolling Raiders have qualified for the Grand Final in their inaugural NSW Cup season following a dominant 42-12 preliminary final win over the Parramatta Eels on Sunday.
The Raiders will take on the St George Illawarra Dragons this Sunday (30th) at the Menai Indoor Sports Centre at 4:30pm in a massive competition decider.
Last Sunday, our Rolling Raiders went into the preliminary final as underdogs against the defending-premiers, the Parramatta Eels.
The strong Parramatta side boasted three current NSW representatives including NSW co-captain and Australian Wheelaroo Diab Karim.
The Raiders proved too hard to stop, especially with the misfortunes Parramatta faced throughout the match, resulting in the Raiders securing a commanding 30-point victory.
Raiders key player and NSW representative Zac Carl came out firing, scoring two quick tries, before captain Toby Popple also crossed the line to gain an early 14-point lead.
The contest got into the grind, with the Eels showcasing strong defence until the Raiders found their way over the line through Mitchell Sentance with 13 minutes left in the first half.
Parramatta started to find their groove, scoring two tries towards the end of the half through Rick Engles and Wessam Bakkour, bringing the halftime score to 20-8 in favour of the Raiders.
Eels captain Liam Luff unfortunately suffered a head knock and was ruled out for the remainder of the game, leaving his side down a player for the entire second half.
The Raiders capitalised on the one-man advantage, with Sentance securing his double, and Brad Burns crossing for a try early in the second half.
Parramatta's bad luck continued with multiple popped tyres and chair malfunctions, leading to stoppages of play. Despite these challenges, they managed to strike back with Engles scoring his second try, with only three of their players left on the court.
The Raiders bagged two more tries in quick succession through Popple scoring his second and Carl securing his hat-trick, blowing out their lead to 42-12.
With chair malfunctions continuing to hinder the Eels, compounded by the earlier loss of their captain, Parramatta made the tough decision to call off the remainder of the match.
The final score was left at 42-12, marking a historic win for the Rolling Raiders as they gear up for the Grand Final in their inaugural NSW Cup season.
The St George Illawarra Dragons progressed straight through to the Grand Final after their tight 54-52 win over Parramatta in week one of the finals.
In the Raiders previous meetings with their Grand Final opposition, the Dragons proved too strong with a 56-22 round three win, and a 50-36 victory in round six.
The Rolling Raiders will undoubtedly be fired up this Sunday, aiming to etch their name in Wheelchair Rugby League history by claiming glory in their debut season.
