We travelled up on Wednesday afternoon, had a light training session to shake off the nerves, and finished the day with a team dinner.
The next morning started slowly as the boys settled their nerves with breakfast and tidied their cabins before the 11:00 am kick-off.
After weeks of wet weather, the NRL Development managed to secure a dry, sandy field for the game. St Paul’s Catholic College came out firing, crossing for a try on just the third tackle. Standing behind the posts, our boys quickly realised they were in for a real contest.
They regrouped well, and strong carries from Saint, Nick, and Ashton saw us start to win the battle up the middle. Lincoln, Ambrose, Riley, Kody, and Rocco drove us out of trouble with solid runs, while Cruz, Harry, Jacob, and Fraser put in some big defensive efforts. With Tyler, Max, Finn, Beau, and Tobi getting the ball in good positions, we were able to shift the bigger St Paul’s pack around. A burst of tries gave us a 12–6 lead at halftime, despite a fierce southerly wind making kicking conditions tough.
At the break, we reminded the boys that St Paul’s would come out strong again—and they did, scoring in the opening set to level the scores. Once more, our boys dug in, with powerful runs and tough defence helping us regain control. When we crossed to go ahead 18–12, momentum was with us and it felt like we might pull away. Unfortunately, a couple of disallowed tries—held up over the line—halted our charge. St Paul’s then grabbed a late try and nailed a brilliant sideline conversion into the wind to tie things up. In the dying minutes, we threw everything at their line, but their desperate scramble defence held us out.
With the score locked at 18-all, the match went to Golden Point. Losing the toss meant we were running into the wind. A nervous start turned into excitement as Kody surged upfield and was brought down just a metre short of the line. St Paul’s then wrestled back possession and spent several sets camped on our line. Our defence was outstanding, repelling multiple raids and charging down a couple of field goal attempts. But on the last play of the first period of extra time, St Paul’s managed to regather a loose ball, swing it wide, and finally break our desperate scramble defence to seal the win.
It was a cliffhanger of a match with nothing separating the two sides. One more tackle might have seen us celebrating instead—but that’s football. While the boys were disappointed, they should be immensely proud of how they carried themselves on and off the field across the two-day trip. Their behaviour in public, their sportsmanship during and after the game, and their effort in such a high-pressure final are all a credit to them.
Well done on a fantastic season, boys!
The Team
Fraser Boake, Finn Close, Lincoln Craig, Ashton Hubbard, Saint Levae, Harry Lowbridge, Beau McKeon, Riley Nebauer, Jacob Piper, Ambrose Plunkett, Max Portass, Tyler Preston, Rocco Roycroft, Tobi Ruhl, Nicholas Smith, Kody Teasdale, Cruz Vella
