DUBBO'S St Laurence's Primary and Assumption from Bathurst proved they could play to win, taking out the Russell Richardson Cup and David Peachey Shield respectively at Apex Oval yesterday.
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The finals of the competition came to a close in dramatic fashion, with St Laurence's keen to seek revenge against St Mary's Primary School (also from Dubbo), the latter winning the region finals 16-4 back in May.
Assumption will advance through to the NRL Legends state carnival in Sydney later this year after defeating St Augustine's from Narromine 12-4.
St Laurence's beat Dubbo rivals St Mary's 4-1 in what was a hotly contested game, with all players tearing up the oval in a last-ditch attempt at success.
Winning coach Brett Warwick said the boys had improved considerably since their last encounter with St Mary's.
"They performed so much better than last time," he said.
"They defended well and the attack just comes. Darcy Chewings tackled real well, Kye Stubbs ran real well. There's good news about all the boys."
Warwick recalled when St Mary's beat St Laurence's in the region final (in May) but it went the other way this time around.
"It was back to the final... and we got them this time. Now it's one apiece," he said.
Stubbs was named man of the match at the post-game presentation, the honour bestowed on him by NRL legend David Peachey.
NRL game development manager Mick Armstrong said the competition’s 12th year was another success.
“This year was good. We all had competitive teams and you couldn’t tell who was going to win until the final game. It was very competitive this year and I’m sure it’ll continue to grow for years to come,” he said.
“The Peachey Shield was won 12- 4, three tries to one. It was a close game there.
(Assumption) are a quality side. They’ve got three players who played with the Polding side here in Dubbo last week. They’ve played a lot of sport this year and a very good side. They were always going to be hard to beat.
“For St Augustine’s, credit to them for putting it to Bathurst and making the final. They’re a great side as well... Probably the ones that deserve to be in the final made the final.”
He said because Assumption won the coveted Peachey Shield, they would go through to the NRL Legends day in Sydney in which teams from all the regional events would play against each other, which would undoubtedly be another big day for them.
Peachey said the final teams went through six games yesterday, playing the best they could in the process.
“St Mary’s won on golden points (extra time) in the semi-finals. They had to back that up and play in the grand final,” he said.
“It’s good to have Dubbo teams but it’s also good to have so many teams from outback like Kandos, Warren, Coonamble and Dunedoo.
“All those teams had the opportunity to play some good quality rugby league right here in Dubbo,” he said.