A second half fight back from the Moree Boars was not enough as they went down to the Tingha Tigers in the Group 19 under-18s grand final in Glen Innes on Sunday.
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Down 20-6 at half time, a strong second half from the Boars had them holding a four point lead with 10 minutes remaining, before the Tigers scored a converted try inside the final five minutes to seal the 26-24 win and the under-18s premiership.
The Tigers were first on the board through Bayden Fritz two minutes in before the Boars hit back through Jock Brazel, with Adrian Smith converting to make it 6-4.
Tingha then scored three straight tries through Jye Lavender, Ben Lombo and Dion French to give themselves a handy 20-6 lead at the break.
The Boars regrouped at half time, and added four tries of their own, with Latrel Newman, Brazel, Neville Sharpley and Smith all crossing the line through the first 20 minutes to make it 24-20.
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The Boars then coughed up possession on halfway through what many believed to be a strip, which led to Lavender scoring his second, Tyler Connors adding the conversion to hand the Tigers victory.
"We thought it was a strip but that's footy," Boars coach Todd Mitchell said.
"They got down there and scored and kicked the goal. The rest is history."
Mitchell said the grand final occasion might have got to a few of his players but said they still "put a good effort in."
"I think we probably played a little bit better in the second half. We were a bit frantic in the first half, I think we got caught up in the emotion of a grand final.
"Tingha may have handled it a bit better in the first half."
Mitchell was proud of the way they worked their way back into the match, saying it was a very even match with both teams scoring five tries.
"It was a bloody good effort, a good fight back," he said.
"There wasn't a lot in it. There was a goal Bob (Smith) missed from the sideline. He was kicking into the wind, it was pretty tough.
"We can take a lot out of it. It was a very even game."
Mitchell said Matt Annis-Brown and Corey Ricketts led the way in the front row, while Adrian Smith "came to life in the second half."
He also pointed out Luke McDonald, Jacob Robinson, Sharpley and Brazel as some of the standout performers on the day, but said that everyone played well.
"They all rolled up their sleeves yesterday and they all played hard and they all had a dig and I was quite impressed with how they played, the second half especially," he said.
Despite the disappointing ending, Mitchell still said the season was a successful one, with the team pushing through the loss of around 10 players through injury, transfers, or players leaving town.
Around six of the current squad will move up into the senior grades, but they have some strong juniors coming through the ranks.
"We had five or six under-16s in that side, and they've got another two years in 18s after this year," Mitchell said.
"I'm really happy for the club and happy for the young fellers that experienced that yesterday."
