Three injury stoppages in the final six minutes highlighted the intensity of Sunday’s under 14s Southern Cup final at Apex Oval.
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NRL Victoria ended up prevailing 38-10 over Group 6 to progress to next week’s Country Cup final against Northern winners Group 3.
But as in the under 15s decider, the scoreline didn’t fully reflect how close the competition was, with small errors and poor fifth-tackle options the difference.
Scoring got underway quickly, with Group 6 ahead 10-4 before ten minutes had passed.
Victoria pegged it back to 10-8 before taking the lead off the back of a terrific chip-and-chase by Ashleigh Tapelu.
Group 6 spent plenty of time parked inside their attacking 20m but struggled to come up with fifth-tackle options, and Victoria extended the lead to 18-10 before half time.
They ran away with it in the second in a performance that pleased coach Luke Wilson.
“We’re very thankful for the opportunity CRL give us … to have such a high level of competition, it’s really good for the development of our young players in Victoria,” Wilson said.
He also had high praise for the facilities at Apex Oval.
“It’s outstanding! We have nothing half as good as this in Victoria,” Wilson said.
“The majority of the boys have never played in front of a grandstand so they were stoked and really enjoyed the opportunity we’ve had here in Dubbo.”
The win was a marked improvement for the Victorians, who last year took out the second-tier Southern Trophy competition.
NRL VICTORIA 38 (William Afualo 2, Eli Sitiveni 2, Junior Seumanu, Levi Kereopa, Ashleigh Tapelu, Kaulyn Muna tries; Seumanu 2, Douglas Atulia conv) def GROUP 6 10 (Bailey Brown, Oliver Kaluzyn tries; Raiden Crowe conv)
