"It was probably the biggest crowds we've had at Wagga Water Polo grand finals," said Wagga Water Polo president Josh Paul.

"It was the first year we incorporated our junior competition with our senior competition on the one day which turned out to be a huge success."

The day's two A grade grand final matches left some of the most exciting play until last, with both he women's and men's matches not disappointing the Wagga crowd.

Up first was the women's, which saw the underdog Raiders edge out the Octopuses in a penalty shootout.

Raiders player Lauren O'Hara said her team was keen to play fierce opposition like the Octopuses' Lauren Nugent and Georgina Yates. "We always get excited about playing against them because they bring such a good game and they're such strong competitors.

While the Octopuses got off to a flying start with a goal in the opening minute, the game swung in the Raiders' favour after a three goal third quarter from Bridget Burns and a 5 - 2 lead for the eventual champions.

The Octopuses fought back with clutch goals in the fourth quarter to tie the game. But prolific Raiders goalkeeper and this year's league awarded best goalkeeper Ashley Pattison was too strong defending the net.

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In the men's, the Octopuses took our a narrow 8 - 7 victory over the Dolphins on the back of another strong performance from star player and the season's co-best and fairest, Rex Gallaher.

Although the Octopuses came in as favourites after their stronghold over the competition this season, they allowed the Dolphins a big lead at the half. But this season's champions found their strength in the last two quarters, clawing back for the narrow victory.

"What I'm really excited about is how many juniors are coming through and how many new players we've got," said O'Hara.

"With any sport, when you get really strong at a junior level, it filters all the way through to the end. I would say we're looking at an even stronger comp in the years to come."

It was the league's first year holding an under 12s competition, allowing younger players an easier and better catered entrance into the growing sport.

"We're really proud of how far they've come and how much they've improved. They played an excellent standard of water polo for all of their first seasons," said O'Hara.

The Dolphins defeated the Octopuses 6 - 5 in the women's B grade grand final, while in the men's B grade grand final, the Dolphins defeated the Octopuses 10 - 8. The Raiders defeated the Dolphins 11 - 5 in the men's C grade grand final.

The Raiders clean swept the juniors finals, defeating the Octopuses 4 - 3 in under 16s mixed, another Raiders squad 8 - 2 in under 14s mixed and another Raiders squad in mixed under 12s.

The Raiders also claimed the women's A grade best and fairest with Sharni Salau winning the award over runner up Georgina Yates.

Gallaher shared the season's top player prize with the Dolphin's Shaun Bennett in the men's A grade, co-winning over runner up Ben Land of the Raiders.

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