Junior Reps Round Nine Wrap
The Canberra Raiders SG Ball team ended their season with a win, while the Harold Matthews and Tarsha Gale Cup sides both suffered disappointing losses over the weekend.
Harold Matthews Cup
The Raiders’ Harold Matthews Cup team finished off the regular season with a loss at the hands of the Parramatta Eels, going down 26-16 at Kellyville Park on Saturday.
With the Raiders ending the season sitting in sixth position, they will be gearing up for the first week of the finals this weekend when they take on the Panthers at Ringrose Park.
The Raiders jumped out to an early 10-0 lead following tries to Jack Clutterbuck and Mathias Tomuli-Ah-Kuoi but Parramatta were able to score just before half-time to make it 10-6 at the break.
The Eels hit the front early in the second half but Canberra fought straight back with a try to Noah Marcantonio to make it 16-12.
Unfortunately the Raiders couldn’t capitalise after Eels five-eighth Fagalele Fagalele was sent to the sin bin for ten minutes, with Parramatta levelling things up whilst he was off.
The Eels finished off strongly, running in two tries in the final eight minutes to secure the ten-point win.
Tarsha Gale Cup
The Raiders Tarsha Gale Cup side were defeated by the Parramatta Eels 52-0 at Kellyville Park on Saturday morning.
It wasn’t quite the end to the season that the Raiders were hoping for after coming off the back of a strong victory over the Bears in round eight.
Parramatta were too good from the kick off, scoring the opening try of the match in the third minute.
Eels players Ruby-Jean Kennard, Petesa Lio and Petalina Atoa all scored doubles and were really impressive in their side’s victory.
The Raiders Tarsha Gale Cup team will take a lot away from this season with the group showing good potential in their two incredible wins.
SG Ball Cup
The Raiders SG Ball side capped off their season with a stunning 32-26 win over the Parramatta Eels on Saturday afternoon in Kellyville.
The game was a try-a-thon with ten total tries and four in the first ten minutes.
Canberra got out of the gate early, scoring their first try in the third minute through front rower Jett Liu. The Raiders quickly followed it up with two tries in the eighth and tenth minute.
Parramatta hit back though with four first half tries to take a slight 24-22 lead into half-time.
The Eels opted to extend their lead to four points through a penalty goal and looked as though all the momentum was on their side. But the Raiders didn’t want to let this match slip away, scoring the only two second half tries to win by six points.
It was a tough season for the SG Ball Cup team but a final round victory will keep spirits high heading into next year.
