The Queanbeyan Blues’ Under 16s, Under 15s, and Under 10s sides all took part in their respective Grand Finals over the weekend, and emerged with two wins and a draw.
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The Under 16s went up against the Woden Rams, and coach Wayne Hoare said that “they didn’t come out very well”.
However, the Blues persisted with their game plan and “just stuck to their guns and got back into the fight, and they finished [the game strong],” Hoare said of the 30-24 win.
It is typical of any Rams side to come out firing, and Queanbeyan expected that their fitness and commitment to the game plan would be enough to get them over the line, and so it proved.
“They pretty much played the way that we knew that they would,” Hoare said.
“It’s just that they’re very hard to contain, and they do what they do very well.
“We were the fitter side, and we sort of proved yesterday that once they got out to a 20-0 lead after 15 minutes, our boys stepped up.”
The route to the premiership was no simpler for the Under 15s. Although coach Zac Patch said that his side had control for most of the game, it still went to extra time with the score at 16-16.
It was only thanks to a penalty goal right before the five-minute break in extra time that the Blues took the lead, and they consolidated with a try soon afterwards to complete their victory, 22-16.
“They went mad,” Patch said of the post-match celebrations.
“We had a pretty rough season, so for them to get a little cherry on the top at the end all made it worth it.”
Finally, the Under 10s Blues finished their season with a Grand Final draw, which is the protocol for all matches in the Under 12s and below if the score is level at full time.
The Blues played extremely well and were preparing to make a strong run in the last half, however they were beset by a number of injuries in a short space of time.
“We had a few injuries in the second half, which gave [West Belconnen’s] big guys time to get their breath back,” coach Jeremy Howell said.
In previous matches between the two, West Belconnen would eventually tire, but the break allowed their much bigger team to maintain their form and restrict the Blues to a 22-22 draw.