The Blues were bowled out for 141 at Robertson Oval, before going down by five wickets on Sunday.

Forced onto the back foot early, South Wagga were in danger of being bowled out for less than 100 before a rear guard effort from Chase Grintell (28) and Nathan Cooke (16) backed up good work from Max Harper (25) in the middle order.

Captain Joel Robinson was disappointed his team’s top order couldn’t make more of an effort with the bat.

“A few things didn’t go our way which is unfortunate in a final but we fought hard at the back end to get to that score,” Robinson said.

“I thought the boys at the back end did a really good job to get us there.

“Obviously we would have liked to be around the 200 mark and I thought we bowled well but the batted well and the wicket was pretty flat.”

Three late wickets flattered the scoreline for Blues  who struggled to make inroads with Jon Nicoll and Josh Thompson putting on a 103-run partnership.

Luke Gerhard and Nathan Cooke both struck when the Cats where on the verge of victory.

The loss means the last six grand finals have been lost by the team first into the decider.

Wagga RSL were the last team to win after the week off when they defeated South Wagga in 2010-11.