Played across two days at Apex Oval, the championships saw the best under 14 and 15s sides from the edges of Sydney right down to the Victorian border battle it out for the right to take on northern NSW’s best at next weekend’s Country Championships.
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Somewhat controversially, the carnival also featured NRL Victoria’s two school boys sides, who brought the skills and speed to be expected of state teams, and redefined the term ‘hard-hitting’.
They took out both Southern Cup grand finals, downing Group 11 in the under 15s.
But the 24-6 score line was not truly reflective of the game, with the home side trailing 10-6 at the break before visibly tiring against a larger side.
Group 11 coach Shawn Townsend was full of praise for his side, and found it hard to name standouts.
“I love Finnley Neilsen [Parkes Marist]. He’s the best young leader in country footy at the age of 15 … he’[s everything you want: he runs hard, he tackles hard and he’s a leader,” Townsend said.
Braye Porter (St John’s Dubbo) and the junior Townsend, Lockie (St John’s Dubbo), were outstanding in the halves, as was their club mate Fletcher Haycock at hooker.
“And Matty Noakes [Red Bend], if you’re a recruitment blokes you look at Matt Noakes,” Townsend said.
“He ticks all the S’s: the speed, size, skill, stamina and he’s got a smile on his face.
“But all of them are good in their own way.”
Townsend opened the scoring in the eighth minute, distributing the ball well from dummy-half before burrowing over himself from close range.
South Dubbo Raider Aston Warwick added the extras easily from out wide to give the home side a 6-0 lead.
But five minutes later the scores were all locked up as Nooroa Reea thundered over, and with just three minutes remaining in the half the visitors took a 10-6 lead.
Lene Feterika found himself in space out wide, sprinting 50 metres and narrowly escaping the clutches of Red Bend fullback Darcy Leadbitter to score on the edge.
In the second half Group 11’s flare came to the fore, but small errors let them down.
A terrific opportunity went begging four minutes into the half when Noakes put Nyngan’s Roy Herbert into space out wide, but the pass didn’t quite connect.
For Townsend, that was a turning point.
“The score blew out in the end but it’s just all about taking opportunities,” he said.
“Scoreboard pressure is the best type of pressure so you’ve got to take your opportunities.”
The country boys began to tire and with ten minutes to go Victoria’s Harry Sio caught a Group 11 kick on his try line and sprinted 90 metres – with a cramping quad – to make it 14-6.
Titan Tiananga was sin-binned with six minutes remaining, giving Group 11 a boost before play was disrupted by a series of injuries.
With 30 seconds remaining Group 11 pounced on a loose ball 10m from their now try lien and sparked a counterattack down the western sideline, but the ball went to ground again and Victorian winger Brait Headon capitalised to score a try of his own just minutes after a forward pass denied him.
Sualauvi Faalogo made a stunning sideline conversion to make it 20-6 and it seemed it was all over.
But it wasn’t.
With just 15 seconds left on the clock Sio once again sprinted 90m to score, sealing the 24-6 win.
Victorian coach Ashley Lanfranchi said the weekend featured the toughest rugby league his side has experienced.
“This team plays at the National Schoolboy Carnival, we play against Western Australia, South Australia and Northern Territory and … the competition here is actually stronger,” he said.
“We knew [Group 11] would be really tough … it just felt like a really tough game that I don’t think [the Victorian boys] have really experienced before.
“The quality opposition that we get to play against is invaluable for these boys.”
NRL VICTORIA 24 (Harry Sio 2, Nooroa Reea, Lene Feterika, Brait Headon tries; Sualauvi Faalogo 2 conv) def GROUP 11 6 (Lockie Townsend try; Aston Warwick conv)
