The New England Nomads have won the right to host the grand final after beating the Tamworth Kangaroos by 87 points at the Bellevue Cathedral in what was a hard fought battle. Winger Luke ‘Rambo’ Raymond and captain David ‘Rampaging’ Richards were best afield while ever dependable Zac Economou kicked four goals. Brett Grant did an excellent job as a shutdown defender, keeping the Roos most damaging forward goal-less. Big Jim Treweeke, Clarrie Barker and Tom Hunt also were standouts but there was not a weak link across the ground. Final scores were 15.19.109 to 3.4.22.

The weather was overcast and cold when the Roos arrived. The ground was heavy underfoot after over 2 inches of rain during the week. The Nomads kicked to the Uralla end and began strongly. It was tough contested finals football and the Roos were not letting the Nomads play their usual free-flowing football. On the flanks and wings Chux, Rambo and Cameron Graham were providing plenty of opportunities up forward with their run and clever kicking. However, the Nomads forwards were a little wasteful in this quarter. Scores at the first change were 3.5.23 to 1.1.7.

The second quarter was played at increased intensity and the Nomads dominated possessions but unfortunately the forwards were a little wayward, taking too many snapshots and as a result they kicked 3.7 for the quarter. Big James was dominating in the ruck while Hamish Pearce was his usual hard self at the contested ball. Zac kicked a number of goals in this quarter and the Roos were unable to match his strength and clever leading. At half time the scores were 6.12.48 to 2.3.15.

The quarter saw the Nomads dominating across the back-line and in the middle. The backline, led by Tom Hunt, Mitch Darton and Phill Mitchell held the Roos scoreless. Modra was running rampant across the forward line while General Ellis Cluff was directing traffic from the middle and sending long penetrating kicks into the forward line. Clarrie Barker’s attack on the ball was impressive. He teamed up well across the half forward line Tim Keys to provide big targets for the mid-fielders to aim at. At three quarter time scores were 10.14.74 to 2.3.15.

In the final quarter the Nomads were able to enjoy themselves, kicking five for the quarter. Rambo continued on his merry way gathering kick after kick on the wing. The wildman of Armidale, Phil Mitchell, pre-emptively shifted himself into the ruck and did an excellent job, even snapping a goal from of a throw-in much to the delight of back-men across the world. Jesse Petrascu took a speckie on the half forward flank and passed off quickly for another Nomads goal, demonstrating that his Tuesday night pack-marking dominance is not just something that is confined to Consett Davis. The boys retired for a few quiet ales at the Wicklow with, amongst other things, Big Dog persuading Little Dog of the intrinsic merits of Guinness.

It was an excellent effort. This is the Nomads’ fifth grand final in a row. But obviously the job is not yet done. Complacency is a danger here. Everyone must work hard over the next fortnight to ensure the Premiership cup remains in Armidale.

Round SF2 2016

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 28th, 2016 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Match report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.