All eyes were on Ryan Mascini as he lined up a sideline conversion which would have levelled things for Kildare after the siren.

However, his valiant attempt to convert Austin Hay’s late try hit the post and bounced back in field to hand Wagga High a 16-14 victory at Parramore Park.

Kildare had won the last two schoolboy rugby league titles and defeated their rivals in the pool stage, but couldn’t contain the forward strength of Wagga High as they surged to their first title since 2008.

With captain Matt Fellows, Rhys Jolliffe and crafty hooker Luke Herman making plenty of inroads in the middle, Wagga High started to get on top in the second half.

Coming from a 10-6 deficit at the break, two quick tries put Wagga High in front with 10 minutes to play.

In the end it was former Kildare player Lachlan Jolliffe who took home the Rick Keast Medal after being named man of the match.

Jolliffe was part of the last two Kildare titles before making the switch and got through a power of work in the forwards.

He was thrilled to come away with the win.

“It’s a good feeling with all the new boys,” Jolliffe said.

Jolliffe thought taking on his old school made him want the win even more.

“It makes me want to get into a bit more and go harder to get the win and take it off them,” he said.

Extra preparation paid off for Wagga High, who started training for the Hardy Shield in November.

November training sessions paid off for Wagga High School as the reached the Hardy Shield summit on Tuesday night.

Holding on to score a thrilling 16-14 victory over Kildare Catholic College, Wagga High won their first Hardy Shield title since 2008.

Matt Fellows led from the front to help his team take a drought-breaking win over their close rivals.

He thought the finish showed just how tight the competition between the two schools is.

“To come down to the wire like that I guess it just shows how close both teams were and how close they were in the whole competition,” Fellows said. 

“It has been a while for Wagga High and their is a lot of hype with the Hardy Shield, especially us the two high schools on the hill, so to get one over the Catholics is real good.

Wagga High opened the scoring courtesy of man of the match Jolliffe after four minutes, however Kildare were quick to respond with Ned Sainsbury diving over from dummy-half five minutes later.

Kildare took a 10-6 lead into the break, after Jack Schubert scored right on half-time, but from there Wagga High really upped the tempo.

Quick tries to Lewis Reid and Ben Weedon put Wagga High in front with 10 minutes to go.

However they could only look in hope after Austin Hay scored to give his team a chance in the dying moments.

Ryan Mascini, who was the standout for Kildare, had the chance to send the game into extra-time with his sideline conversion attempt.

But when it hit the post it sent nervous Wagga High players and supporters into raptures.

Wagga High coach Brent Merritt thought it was a fantastic finish to the game.

“It was a great game, the boys went hard all game and they’ve earned it,” Merritt said. “These guys have been training since November last year and I reminded them of that before the game.

“They put every inch of effort in and have earned it.”

Fellows thought the extra preparation helped them get over the line.

“We started early, we didn’t always have the numbers there, but the boys who were always there were the ones who really stood out for us and lead the team around the park,” he said.

FULL-TIME

WAGGA HIGH SCHOOL 16 (Lewis Reid, Lachlan Jolliffe, Ben Weedon tries; Jack Flood 2 goals) d KILDARE CATHOLIC COLLEGE 14 (Ned Sainsbury, Jack Schubert, Austin Hay tries; Ned Sainsbury goal)

THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF

MATER DEI CATHOLIC COLLEGE 28 (Lachie Beard 2, Joel Tye 2, Kip McCrone tries; Charlie Barton 4 goals) d KOORINGAL HIGH SCHOOL 20 (Jack Moorby, Tyson Hodge, Brody Tracey, Lachlan Piesley tries; Leon Carmichael 2 goals)