Roos Prevail Over Warriors in Gritty Top-Four Clash
In a gritty top-four clash, the Queanbeyan Kangaroos proved too strong for the West Belconnen Warriors, climbing to the top of the Canberra Raiders Cup ladder.
Five minutes in, a penalty gifted the Roos the first attacking opportunity, but West Belconnen’s trademark goal-line defence stood tall.
At the eight-minute mark, Queanbeyan surged back upfield, and Sam Williams launched a fifth-tackle bomb. Kain Anderson soared above the pack to take it cleanly before flicking a spectacular offload to Lucas Thomson, who crossed for the opening try. Thomson struck the upright with his conversion, keeping the score at 4-0.
By the 16th minute, another penalty handed the Roos field position, but once again the Westies absorbed the pressure with defiant defence.
In the 19th minute, Calab Edwards sent up a towering bomb that Patrick Broe couldn’t handle, giving West Belconnen their first genuine attacking chance. However, it went begging when Tsai Tui knocked on early in the set.
At the 24-minute mark, a risky shift coming out of yardage ended in a costly error as Brandon Withers knocked on inside his own 10. Moments later, George Pohahau was sent to the sin bin for tripping, giving Queanbeyan a one-man advantage deep in enemy territory - but the Warriors’ defensive line held impressively once more.
Fatigue finally began to show in the 30th minute when Luke Cannon sliced through the middle from halfway and offloaded to Kaine Pagura, who scored under the posts to push the Roos’ lead to 10-0.
Three minutes later, Queanbeyan nearly went the length from the kick-off with a slick left-edge movement, but a rushed offload saw the ball turned over just 20 metres out.
In the final minute of the half, repeated infringements on their own line saw Sam Williams sent to the sin bin with 20 seconds remaining. West Belconnen had one final play and rolled in a grubber, but it couldn’t be grounded. The Roos headed to the sheds up 10-0, set to start the second half without their captain-coach.
Coming out of the sheds, the Warriors had their chances, enjoying good field position and multiple attacking sets, but couldn’t find the polish to finish.
The second half became a gritty arm-wrestle, with both sides refusing to yield an inch in defence.
It wasn’t until the 70th minute that the deadlock broke, as Josh Ayers burst clean through one off the scrum and turned on the afterburners to score under the posts, sealing the result.
Despite several more opportunities, West Belconnen couldn’t break through the Roos’ defensive wall, with Queanbeyan closing out a tough 16-0 win.
The victory sees the reigning two-time premiers return to familiar territory - sitting atop the Canberra Raiders Cup ladder.
