Going through a season undefeated is no mean feat and often takes a little bit of luck.
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But luck is something the under-17 Dubbo Kangaroos Blue side had little of this season.
Despite a disrupted year, the Doug Sandry-coached outfit still has the opportunity finish 2016 with a perfect record.
The Blue Roos tackle the Mudgee Wombats in Saturday’s Central West Junior Rugby Union grand final and Sandry confessed it’s been anything but an easy road to the decider.
“It’s been a tough year because we’ve had a hell of a lot of injuries and we haven’t been able to train a lot with with all the rain and when we have trained it’s been hard because we have seven or eight who work full time,” he said.
“It’s been disrupted in that sense but that performances have been fantastic and we finished as undefeated minor premiers and then won a tough major semi-final at Forbes.”
The biggest losses for the Roos this year has been season-ending knee injuries to representative flankers Kyle Gibson and Charlie Bible while Jock Lawry has also been a long-term absentee after suffering a broken collarbone.
Barnstorming centre Jack Davis has also missed action recently but he returns on Saturday for the match-up with the Wombats.
“I think we can win it in the backs,” Sandry said of the final.
“We’ve got a terrific backline from nine through to 15 and even the guys who come off the bench are terrific.
“The forwards is where we’ve had the most injuries but guys have stepped up like Ben Knaggs, Tim Cushan, Will Sinclair and Isaiah Raidaveta has really come on this year.
“Out scrums are really solid but the backs are real standouts and there’s confidence in the halves with NSW Country player Pat Berryman and Dalton Medcalf in his first season has been terrific at number 10.”
While Sandry has full confidence in his side he is well aware nothing can be taken for granted. The young Wombats were outstanding at home last week when defeating Forbes and feature the talented Billy Carberry at number 10.
Saturday is a massive day of grand final action from 9.30am with the Roos playing Orange City in the under-13s decider while in the 15s will be Narromine against City.