They ended the Group 19 rugby league season as minor premiers and on Sunday, in front of a huge home grand final crowd, the Moree Boomerangs A grade side capped off a stellar year with a thrilling premiership win against the Glen Innes Magpies.
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The pressure was on for the A grade side as they took to their home field at Burt Jovanovich Oval on Sunday afternoon, with the Boomerangs under 18s and reserve grade sides already securing their respective premierships.
It was then up to A grade to bring home the premiership trophy and make history for the club with three wins from three.
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The Rangs got off to a strong start with two tries and two conversions early on bringing them to a 12-0 lead.
By the end of the first half the home side were leading 18-6, before an early second half Magpies try and conversion took it to 18-12.
The Rangs scored and converted two more times, before a second-half surge by the Magpies narrowed the difference to just two points with only 11 minutes remaining.
A final try by Peter Duncan and successful conversion by Will Fernando was enough to secure the win for the Rangs, with the final score 36-28.
Moree Boomerangs president Mitchell Johnson said the boys played well against a strong Glen Innes side.
“It was always going to be a tough game; Glen Innes weren’t going to be a club who just rolls over, they’ve had really good defence through the year and we just knew we had to complete our sets and grind it out and hopefully in the back end we’d score a few tries,” he said.
“Luckily, it went our way; we were pretty dominant in the first half. We hung on in the end to do enough, but that’s all you’ve got to do in the grand finals.”
A strong defence and taking advantage of opportunities in attack helped secure the victory for the boys.
“That’s what it takes in the grand finals; you’ve got to take the opportunities as they arise because you don’t get many and I think we capitalised pretty well throughout the day, every time we got a chance we scored,” Johnson said.
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While Toby Key was named player of the match, Johnson said the win was a whole team effort.
“The whole lot of the boys put in a big effort but on the day Brett Wright was solid in the middle, as were our forward packs, Toby [Key] and the others,” he said.
“Kyle Saunders on the edge had a big game in defence and Rick Roberts in the halves was good. Lloyd Munro at fullback had an outstanding day I thought.
“Across the paddock, all the guys were good. It takes the full 17 to win it and everyone just played well on the day.”
The A grade victory topped off a perfect day for the home side.
Johnson said it couldn't have been better.
“It’s been history today - three grades, a home grand final and on Father’s Day, so you can’t get much better than that,” he said.
“I’m just over the moon, I’m so happy for the club.
“All the boys put in a good effort.
“We had a good chat during the week, we said we’ve got the chance to make history, it doesn’t come around too often, so we’ve got to take those opportunities when they’re there and that’s what the boys did in all three grades.
“As club president, I couldn’t be prouder of the lads.”
This is the first time the Boomerangs have won premierships in three grades in one year and Johnson said the feat is testament to the strength of the club as a whole.
“This is huge; we’ve been building as a club from the start of the year to this,” he said.
“We knew we had a good couple of blokes and a good depth to the club.
“It takes a strong club to be able to win the three grades. You’ve got to have depth through the grades and even some under 18s have been playing A grade through the year from time to time.
“It’s just a significant day for the club and I think we can keep rolling on next year with a really good crop of young blokes coming through. It’s just a huge day for the club and the community as well.”