Year 10 steamed home to seal a come from behind victory in the inaugural Grade of Origin clash at MacKillop Field today.
Down 16 - 10 at the halftime break, Liam Kennedy delivered a spirited halftime speech - described by some as a spray - that motivated the men in the Senior’s strip to score a further 20 points and take the victory.
Year 9, with Year Co-ordinator Mr. Simon watching from the bleachers, opened the account with 12 unanswered points thanks largely to corner tries from fullback Zac Morgan, centre Toby Roberts and winger Lachlan Lewis. Unfortunately for the younger team, all sideline conversions were missed, leaving a further 12 points not taken. Captain Beau Ryan got over the line again later in the match with the conversion going astray as well.
Dylan Mugadza led the Year 10 comeback with a two try effort and was supported by Jett Wilson, DJ Brown and Liam Kennedy who also bagged tries at key moments in the match. Captain Kennedy was a sharp shooter out there with the boot today knocking over 5 conversions from 5 attempts. Year 9s in the crowd were reported as saying that they wished Kennedy shared a few goals with them.
Coach and referee Mr. Matthew Sharp when asked after the match to highlight some players who really impressed mentioned Harry Fulton who had a strong game for 9s along with Talan Krout who also had a strong debut for the club. Kosi Sibanda chipped in with a nice cameo performance towards the end of the game and was directly involved in the delivery of a 2020 falcon of the year on one of his unsuspecting teammates.
Big congratulations to winning Year Coordinator, Ms. Slingerland, who was simply chuffed to life the Cox Commemorative Plate in what was her first ever Rugby League match as well.
Big commiserations to former Year 9 captain, Konnar Black, who broke his collarbone leading up to the match in a game of ‘run it straight”.
-Kent Brockman - Investigative Sports Journalist.
