THE Group 11 under 14s have stunned some of junior rugby league's powerhouse teams to claim the 2016 Junior Country Championships Southern Cup at Wagga Wagga at the weekend.
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The team, which included four members from Dubbo, Jayden Hyde from South Dubbo and St John's players Noah Ryan, William Nelson and Nicholas Tighe, launched a stunning comeback to overturn a 12-0 deficit against Canberra in the final and win 18-16, to claim the silverware.
The victory has given them confidence they will be able to claim the overall title when they travel to Cessnock to take on Northern Cup winners Central Coast on July 2.
Group 11 coach Brett Smith said he was proud of what the boys had achieved.
"I was always confident the boys would perform but it was hard to be too confident of success against teams like Victoria and Canberra," he said.
"Victoria has 3000 registered players to choose from and the ACT also has plenty. We don't have anywhere near that.
"We will go to Cessnock and give it a good shake. I don't really think Northern had the same calibre of teams that Southern did so with the preparation we have had, we feel ready."
A tough opening game against Victoria ended in a 10-all draw but Group 11 were declared victors on countback because they scored the first try. It set up a clash with Group 7 that proved to be just as close, although the western NSW team were able to come away 10-6 winners.
Smith said he thought nerves played a part in the early stages of the cup final, as he watched his team concede three tries in 15 minutes to trail 12-0.
Group 11 were able to compose themselves and score two converted tries of their own through Wellington's Elijah Collis and Parkes' Sakiasi Sodrodro to level the scores before half-time.
Group 11 took the lead after the break courtesy of a try by Wellington's Rylee Blackhall and the subsequent conversion from Nicholas Facchi put them six points clear.
Canberra fired again and scored on the sideline with 10 minutes remaining, however they missed the difficult conversion attempt.
They threw everything at Group 11 as the final siren approached but the defence was too strong.
"We saw the Canberra team before the final and the boys said to me they thought the team looked more like a first grade team than under 14s," Smith said.
"They had some big kids in there and I think our guys were a bit shell-shocked, which I think was the reason for the start.
"Once we recovered we played structured football, completed our sets and held onto the ball, which made it much harder for Canberra."
The coach said his team had a limited preparation in the lead-up to the tournament with just one trial against Group 10 and three training sessions.
"The Victorian coach asked how far our players had come from and I told him it was basically all over. We had players from Bourke, Nyngan and Cobar that had to travel big distances for training," he said.
"I think it is important that we acknowledge the efforts of the parents who did so much travelling to get their children to training and games."
Group 11 will take on Central Coast at Cessnock on Saturday, July 2 from 2.20pm.