DUNGOWAN Cowboys withstood a gallant Kootingal surge to run away with their Whitehaven Coal Group 4 under-18s grand-final 40-10 at Moree’s Boughton Oval on Saturday.
Kootingal lost captain and inspirational lock Blake Russell just 10 minutes into the match with his side trailing 6-4.
Russell suffered a dislocated knee and was transported to hospital.
Not long after they lost another of their influential players, Taj Bone, but still managed to go to the half-time break 12-10 behind after tries from Jahdiel Landsborough and Cooper Anderson.
However, the loss of two key players proved too big a disruption and the Cowboys raced in five second-half tries.
Man-of-the-match Braydon Allan and half-back Jordan Hamlin constructed a lot of the mayhem while hooker-lock Lief Dietrich was another key player, scoring a brilliant try and taking a hand in a few others.
Kootingal had no luck, coach Aaron Cotter said.
“Losing Blake and then Taj didn’t help,” he said.
“We were throwing people in all over the place. The same thing happened to us last year. Just had no luck.
“I thought we were on top until Blake and Taj went off. Then the heads went down.
“Congratulations to Dungowan, though. They took their chances.”
Dungowan Cowboys scored a dominant 40-10 win over Kootingal in the Group 4 under-18s grand-final on Saturday (Image Copyright).
Dungowan coach Damian Allan was “over the moon”.
He thought he might not “have a side at the start of the year”.
However, they battled on, sometimes with 12 players to improve.
“It was a tough contest,” He said.
“We knew it was going to be. The boys stuck to the process. Kept their patience. Kept our structure. We also knew the heat would favour us.”
Damian Allan said Dungowan’s preparations had been spot on.
“The boys trained really, really well the last two weeks; they were clinical in everything they did.”
He said the side is “very special”.
“Every person in that team did their job and did it all year,” he said.
He also joked about his son, Braydon, winning the player-of-the-grand-final after scoring two tries, setting up a couple more and kicking six goals.
“I told him during the week he had to score two tries and kick seven goals otherwise he’d be walking home,” Allan laughed.
Meanwhile, North Tamworth rebounded from a major semi-final loss to Kootingal to beat their Tamworth rivals 20-nil in the Ladies League Tag grand-final.
Kimberley Resch’s four tries led the Bearettes to a dominant win.
Named player-of-the-grand-final, she thanked her teammates and added: “Everyone was a player of the grand-final.”
Norths dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, forcing five line drop-outs by the Roosterettes.
Kootingal did well to hold out, but when forced to dropkick again from under their posts North Tamworth’s Dhalara Knox made them pay.
She caught the kick then ran to her left to elude tags and put Resch into a hole for Kimberley to score.
Five minutes later and Kimbereley was over again to help the Bearettes to a 10-nil half-time lead.
Try as they might Kootingal couldn’t ford the North defence and when they dropped an Amy Barraclough bomb in the 17th minute of the second-half, Kimberley sped through a gap for her third try.
Three minutes later she sealed the game when Leica Le Brocq’s smart move back to the blind side enabled Kimbereley to dash over for her fourth try.
That she played was a minor miracle, coach Damien Kenniff said.
A left knee injury looked like robbing her of a GF start.
“She turned up at training on Thursday night and I thought she was there for moral support,” Kenniff said.
“Then she ran through, got the ball and tagged. Then she came up to me after training and said she was good to go. She’s an amazing person.”
He said the entire squad excelled and believes Leica Le Brocq might be the “toughest person I’ve ever coached”.
He’s enjoyed his term at Norths.
“They have been a great group, I’ve learned a lot from them,” he said.
Kootingal coach Jeff Faint said Norths “were too good.”
“They started well and we did well to defend.”
He thought his side was “half-pace” compared to their major-semi victory over the Bearettes.
“We just didn’t have the energy we had a couple of weeks ago. That’s footie, that’s grand-finals,” he said.
“They were just too good, defended well and kept us to nil.”
Words: Geoff Newling
Image: Bill Poulos
WHITEHAVEN COAL GROUP 4 GRAND FINALS
Saturday, September 7 – Boughton Oval, Moree.
First-Grade: MOREE 40 (Jamie Sampson, Brenton Cochrane, Jake Tighe, Alex Barker Junior, Brent McDonald, Joe Wade, Michael Watton tries, Michael Watton 6gls) d BOGGABRI 18 (Josefa Goneduadua, Jack Hayes, Robert Doolan tries, Ash White 3gls). Player of the Grand Final: Jamie Sampson (MB).
Second-Grade: WERRIS CREEK 24 (Bailey Wilson, Dustin Prince, Jarrod Tickle, Moses Sovatabua, Sam Tickle tries, Karwin Knox 2gls) d DUNGOWAN 20 (Braydon Johnson 2, Evan Coombes, Malaki Johnson tries, Steven Donovan 2gls). Player of the Grand Final: Sam Tickle (WC).
Under-18s: DUNGOWAN 40 (Braydon Allan 2, Oliver Milsom 2, Coben Battle, Lief Dietrich, Sam Archer tries, Allan 6gls) d KOOTINGAL 10 (Jahdiel Landsborough, Cooper Anderson tries, Toby Ison gl). Player of the Grand Final: Braydon Allan (D).
Ladies League Tag: NORTH TAMWORTH 22 (Kimberley Resch 4 tries, Amy Barraclough 3gls) d KOOTINGAL 0. Player of the Grand Final: Kimberley Resch (NT).
