Goulburn Workers Bulldogs (2) 30 defeated Queanbeyan Blues (1) 14 at Goulburn Workers Arena
Well the day has finally come. The top of the table Queanbeyan Blues have finally been defeated.
And somewhat appropriately, it was the team they beat in last year’s decider which accomplished this feat, the Goulburn Workers Bulldogs.
In addition to their Grand Final win, the Blues had also defeated the Bulldogs 32-22 back in Round 3.
The loss for Queanbeyan came a week after they escaped with a last-minute win over the sixth placed Woden Valley Rams.
“There’s a lot of pressure on us with other teams lifting to play us each game and wanting to be the team to knock us off first,” said Jake Wheeler who scored the match-winner in the win over the Rams.
Queanbeyan went into the match without the services of halfback and former Canberra Raider Marc Herbert who was unavailable due to a concussion he suffered early on against Woden last week.
The Blues sorely missed Herbert’s direction and kicking game which affected the team’s cohesion for the majority of the match.
In front of a parochial Goulburn crowd, Matt Worboys and Codie Medway starred for the Bulldogs with both players registering doubles.
Despite ending Queanbeyan’s nine-game winning streak, Goulburn’s celebrations were dampened with the news that former NRL forward and current Canberra Region representative Joe Picker has a suspected broken arm.
Goulburn Captain-Coach Mick Picker admitted the injury to his older brother would be a blow to his side’s fortunes, although the confidence derived from the victory would help to slightly compensate this.
“He's most likely broken his arm, he hasn't had much luck but you never know when that can happen,” Mick said.
“That was the first time we've beaten them [Blues] in three years and the first time at home in seven years, it gives us some confidence moving forward.”
Goulburn Workers Bulldogs 30 (M Worboys 2, C Medway 2, S Conlon, C Hart tries C Hart 3 goals) defeated Queanbeyan Blues 14 (J Wheeler, T Ruediger, D Pangai tries S Kalsbeek goal)
Queanbeyan Kangaroos (3) 38 defeated Tuggeranong Bushrangers (7) 16 at Freebody Oval
Queanbeyan has registered their fifth straight victory after comprehensively trumping Tuggeranong by 22 points at home.
After an up-and-down start to the season, the Kangaroos are coming into form at the right time of the year, with the victory over the Bushrangers solidifying their position at third on the TTM Canberra Raiders Cup ladder.
“It’s been a pretty slow start to the year but we’re building and getting better at the right time of the year,” said Queanbeyan Assistant Coach Jack Giddings. “We’re hopeful that we can hold onto our top four spot.”
Byran Cronan and Matt Adams starred for the Roos with each player registering a double in the seven-tries-to-three triumph.
Unfortunately for the 7th placed Bushrangers, it was the side’s sixth loss in a row.
Queanbeyan Kangaroos 38 (B Cronan 2, M Adams 2, B Shulver, A Gorrell, K Parsons tries J Miller 5 goals) defeated Tuggeranong Bushrangers 16 (M Brophy, J Pollard, P Janssen tries L Heyman 2 goals)
Gungahlin Bulls (4) 28 defeated Woden Valley Rams (6) 24 at Phillip District Oval
Gungahlin has overcome a shocking injury crisis to narrowly defeat Woden by four points away from home.
The injury crisis suffered by Gungahlin has seen them lose their past three encounters, however the Bulls displayed tremendous mental strength and club spirit to trump the Rams by four points.
“The boys just dug in deep, we were down on troops having to call up three players from reserve grade, but to their credit they played for each other,” Bulls Coach Troy Thompson said.
“The blokes who played a full game of reserve grade were on when Woden had a lot of ball early in the second half and we just won ugly.
“I thought Lincoln [Withers'] kicking game kept us in the game. Woden defended really well down our end and his kicking game was really important.”
The Rams will be bitterly disappointed that they let their opportunity slip against the undermanned Bulls as the loss now sees them slip to four points out of the top four.
Woden Coach Ash Barnes was bitterly disappointed with his side's inability to capitalise on any attacking opportunities that they were presented with.
“I'm really disappointed with our performance today, probably the most disappointed I've been this year,” Barnes said.
“We had more than enough good ball to win, we just didn't execute our plays or run them at the right times.
“Credit to Gungahlin, they were down on troops and lost a couple during the game, and hung in there.”
Gungahlin Bulls 28 (J Ulrick 2, R O’Sullivan, P Ryan, S Grainger tries A Greenwood 2, D Connors, J Ulrick goals) defeated Woden Valley Rams 24 (J Burns, E Jenkins, J Martin, A Lucas, J White tries K Harawira 2 goals)
West Belconnen Warriors (5) 74 defeated Belconnen United Scholars (8) 12 at Raiders Belconnen
The West Belconnen Warriors have absolutely annihilated local rivals the Belconnen United Scholars in what was the biggest victory by any side in 2015 in the TTM Canberra Raiders Cup.
The Warriors put on an absolute clinic in front of a rapturous home crowd, running in a whopping 14 tries through some incredibly flimsy Scholars’ defence.
Hooker Isaac Hammad scored a hat-trick of tries whilst five-eighth Ryan Gowing and fullback Dwayne Ewings registered doubles.
Also prominent on the scoresheet was Howie Brown, who posted a 22-point haul through a try and nine conversions.
The 62-point loss continues a dreadful season for the Scholars who have not registered a victory all year and have leaked an average of 44 points per game.
West Belconnen Warriors 74 (I Hammad 3, R Gowing 2, D Ewings 2, J Faletagoai, R McQueen, H Brown, S Lomax, N Mola, T Aroha, R Thomas tries H Brown 9 goals) defeated Belconnen United Scholars 12 (M Mapiou, J Mago tries A Pelasio 2 goals)
Current Ladder |
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POS |
TEAM |
P |
W |
L |
D |
B |
F |
A |
PD |
PTS |
1 |
10 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
342 |
151 |
191 |
18 |
|
2 |
10 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
310 |
176 |
134 |
16 |
|
3 |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
260 |
244 |
16 |
14 |
|
4 |
10 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
259 |
216 |
43 |
12 |
|
5 |
10 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
272 |
211 |
61 |
10 |
|
6 |
10 |
4 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
235 |
242 |
-7 |
8 |
|
7 |
10 |
1 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
144 |
308 |
-164 |
2 |
|
8 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
172 |
446 |
-274 |
0 |