This was one for the true believers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In front of a record crowd at Wagga’s Robertson Oval, The Rock-Yerong Creek overcame a scoreless first quarter, and a full forward playing on one leg, to deliver a thrilling premiership win over East Wagga-Kooringal.
Coming back from 27 points down in the second quarter, the Magpies showed their spirit and took their opportunities to win 12.4 (76) to 10.10 (70).
TRYC hit the front in the third quarter but again had to chase down the Hawks late.
Two goals in the final seven minutes got them home, with Dale Hugo kicking the match-winner on the 20-minute mark, in the closest finish to a Farrer League grand final since 2001.
Coach David Pieper couldn’t have been prouder.
“To give a side of that quality four goals start...” Pieper said, shaking his head.
“To stand up, chip away, not drop our heads and have the belief that we could come back… it’s a credit to the boys.
“There was not one passenger and there can’t be in a final.”
The Pies carried Andy Carey, who injured a calf and was hobbling for most of the game, but he was hardly a passenger with four goals.
But the run came from the middle with Andrew Saddler delivering a best-on-ground performance, while the backline kept TRYC in the contest.
Assistant coach Aiden Ridley was inspiring at the back and delivered a clutch play late in the game.
“I just rolled the dice and ran forward and I was lucky enough to find a little patch of grass there by myself,” Ridley said of his mark on the 50-metre line.
Of the kick that followed to level the scores, Ridley said:
“I was nervous as. I didn’t think I had the legs after a big day but, oh, what a feeling when it went straight through!”
Hugo’s goal three minutes later sealed a win for on-field grit and off-field determination at a club stung by missing the finals last year.
“It’s huge – I’m not a very emotional man but I had a couple of tears in the eyes after the game,” TRYC president Gavin Hofert said.
It’s the club’s second premiership in five years, easing the pain of back-to-back losses in 2012 and 2013.
That’s where the Hawks now find themselves after a heart-breaking defeat.
Coach Gavin McMahon admitted they faltered when it mattered.
“We had more than enough opportunities to win the game - you’ve just got to do it on the day at the time,” McMahon said.
““It was just a bit of execution - whatever you want to call that at the end of the day, you can – but the execution wasn’t quite right when it counted and a few decisions weren’t quite right when it counted and that’s what grand finals are about.”
