Goulburn Bulldogs star recruit and halfback Mitch Cornish was ruled out of the 34-14 loss to Queanbeyan Blues on Sunday, September 8 at Seiffert Oval after undergoing throat surgery earlier in the week due a knock copped in the Bulldogs' preliminary final.

Queanbeyan Blues player coach Terry Campese knew a few days earlier, his teammates didn't.

"I found out earlier in the week,"Campese said.

"I kept it a secret and didn't want the boys to know.

"I didn't want them thinking it was going to be an easy game."

It definitely wasn't easy with the Blues holding a mere four point lead at the break.

After conceding the lead early in the second half, the home side went on to win with four unanswered tries.

"At half time, I was a bit worried," Campese said.

"The boys dug deep, defended their backsides off.

"We stuck to the game plan in the second half and it payed off for us."

In the build up to the game, the 35 year old spoke about the importance of slowing down the opposition's play the ball and that was exactly what they did.

"This was up there as our best defensive display," he said.

"To keep them to 14 points when they have scored plenty in the past few weeks is a real grand final grind.

"We had some special players do some special things for us."

The win gave the Blues their fourth premiership in six years.