Blues book their Grand Final ticket

The Queanbeyan Blues secured their place in the 2024 Canberra Raiders Cup Grand Final with a hard-fought 20-14 preliminary win over the Woden Valley Rams.

Locked at 10-all at halftime, the Blues displayed their composure in the second half, crossing for key tries while maintaining a solid defensively. 

They now turn their attention to a showdown with town rivals, the Queanbeyan Kangaroos, for the coveted Canberra Raiders Cup title.

This Grand Final appearance marks a remarkable turnaround for the Blues, who finished seventh, equal last, in 2023.

It wasn’t the start Woden wanted as Brad Prior knocked on off the first carry of the game.

Gifted an early set at the line, the Blues were held up twice by Woden's strong goal-line defence.

A sweeping play to the left saw Blues centre Luke Tuialii break free down the sideline but he was taken down five metres short.

Capitalising on the retreating Rams defence, the Blues quickly shifted right, where winger Connor Martin crossed for the game's first points. Morseu's conversion was held short by the wind, leaving the score at 4-0 after 10 minutes.

Shortly after, Blues prop JJ Clarkson lost control of the ball in the tackle, giving Woden their first chance in enemy territory.

Seizing the opportunity, five-eighth Brendan Jimenez delivered early ball to a charging Ron Leapai, who powered through the defence and scored next to the left upright. Gideon Afemui’s successful conversion put Woden ahead by two points in the 15th minute.

The Blues continued to dominate field position, creating several scoring chances, but Woden’s goal-line defence stood firm.

Deep in enemy territory again, Blues halfback Dylan McLachlan's long cut-out pass found Connor Martin, but was knocked on as he tried to plant the ball. 

Interchange hooker Jack Anderson took matters into his own hands with the Blues in striking distance once more, putting in a grubber that rebounded back to him, before he muscled his way over the line to score.

Woden responded as Jimenez's grubber similarly rebounded into Luke Ellis's hands, who offloaded to winger Sam Gash to score in the corner. Gash missed the sideline conversion, leaving it tied at 10-all as the halftime siren sounded shortly after.

The Rams started the second half strongly, forcing an early repeat set, but the Blues' defence was unbreakable.

Anderson made a long-range break out of dummy-half to put the Blues back in striking range, with McLachlan capitalising on the momentum and barging over the line, giving his side a 14-10 lead with the missed conversion. 

The Blues nearly added another try shortly after, but Lachie Eveston and Daine Spencer made a crucial try-saving tackle on Morseu screaming down the sideline.

Woden almost levelled the scores as Spencer batted down a kick that Jimenez picked up planted over the line, but Spencer's efforts were called back for a knock-on.

The Blues eventually extended their lead with a powerful run from Atu Tupou, who offloaded to Anderson for his second try. Morseu converted to give Queanbeyan a 20-10 lead.

From the kickoff return, the Blues came close to scoring another long range try as Daetyn Tanuvasa broke through the defence and offloaded to Kalani Skipps, who knocked on over the line.

Tupou was sin-binned for foul play, reducing the Blues to 12 men, which Woden took advantage of, as winger Koko Salim scored in the corner. Gash's missed conversion left the Rams trailing by six with 20 minutes to play. 

After a period of back-and-forth footy, the Rams began dominating field position and had several scoring opportunities in the final 10 minutes but couldn't find a way.

With only a few minutes left, the Rams conceded a penalty on their own line, giving the Blues a chance to extend their lead to 8 points, but they opted to tap and go.

The Rams held firm defensively and had two minutes to pull off a miracle.

Salim appeared to find space on the outside, but Tuialii made a desperate tackle, pulling him over the sideline just before he could break free.

With 10 seconds left, the Rams attempted a final hot-potato play, but nothing materialised, and the Blues held on for a 20-14 win to secure their spot in the Grand Final, while simultaneously ending Woden's 2024 campaign.