By Tallon Smith

After a challenging yet enthralling regular season, Group 20 Rugby League enters its Finals Series this weekend, with five teams vying for the right to be First Grade Premiers in 2023.

Battlers For Bush Footy has all you need to know ahead of this weekend’s finals, with a recap of last week’s games and a preview of this weekend’s two massive contests below.

Round 14 Recap

In the most anticipated game of the weekend, the Yenda Blueheelers put all the noise surrounding Hay’s controversial finals exclusion to bed with a 42-4 win that saw them officially move into fifth place and gain a finals berth.

Six different tryscorers crossed for the Blueheelers in the win, with the side putting in a strong team performance on the eve of finals.

Yenda Coach James Dole said that the win, which cemented a finals berth for the club, was “huge” for the community.

“We made that goal [of making finals] at the start of the year when we assumed we would have the same side all [season],” he said.

“We’ve had some change and we’ve done it without some of those boys in the end.”

“It’s a massive achievement.”

Dole said that despite the scoreline and negative press in the week prior, the game itself was an “awesome” contest.

“We knew the Hay blokes were gonna show up no matter what,” he said.

“We treated the game as if there was no ruling, as [if] hypothetically the season was on the line.

“If we had gone over there and lost, we wouldn’t have felt like we deserved it [making finals].

“Regardless of the ruling it was do or die for us.”

Speaking of today’s opponent in the Elimination Final, West Wyalong, Dole said that he remains focused on the massive challenge of beating the Mallee Men on their home turf.

“They’re a quality outfit, regardless of how well the team is going [to finish the regular season],” he said.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve faced in my Group 20 career, they’re one of the hardest teams to beat at home.

“But we’re going in strong and we’re going in confident.”

Meanwhile, the Leeton Greenies will host DPC in the Qualifying Final next weekend after sealing second spot with a 60-6 win over a lionhearted Yanco side in the local derby to finish the regular season. The gutsy Hawks again fronted up with thirteen players, and were no match for the defending premiers who dominated the contest from start to finish.

Meanwhile, the Griffith Black and Whites celebrated their Cultural Round in style with a 28-22 win over fellow finals contenders the DPC Roosters at Solar Mad Stadium. The win is a massive statement coming into finals, sealing the Minor Premiership and giving the Black and Whites a week to rest ahead of the Major Semi Final in two weeks’ time.

In the final game of the round at West Wyalong, the Mallee Men recorded a 50 points to 22 win over the Tullibigeal-Lake Cargelligo Sharks in another edition of the ‘Northern Derby’. Although the result had little bearing on the ladder, it was a much needed win form-wise for the Mallee Men, who have had an up and down season and are now looking to bring home their first title since 2012 in finals footy.

Finals Preview

West Wyalong v Yenda – 1:30pm Saturday, Ron Crowe Oval, West Wyalong

This game has all the hallmarks of an absolute classic. The Mallee Men, who have been strong in patches in 2023, hold the advantage of playing at home at Ron Crowe Oval, and will no doubt be supported by a parochial home crowd on Saturday afternoon. Led by talismanic skipper Tim Dore, the Mallee Men will go into the contest as favourites, and will look for a strong performance from their exciting fullback Logan Collins and star half Jaxon Lemon to get them over the line.

Meanwhile, after a poor middle of the year, Yenda’s hard work and effort at the back end of the year goes on the line in this encounter. Key to their success on Saturday is the performance of half Isaiah Little-Buerckner, who has been instrumental in many of the side’s victories throughout the year, and will wear the number 6 jersey partnering Goolgowi product Henry Taylor.

Overall, this should be a close encounter, which will most likely start off defensively and open up in the final quarter. Almost impossible to pick, the game will be decided by whoever has the stamina to go the full 80 minutes.

Leeton v DPC Roosters – 2:35pm Sunday, Leeton No.1 Oval

This is the big one, the Grand Final rematch. Whilst both have been upstaged somewhat by the charge of the Griffith Black & Whites, both are more than capable of taking out the title this season, and the tension of the occasion and the prize of two shots at a Grand Final berth will make this a fiery and defensive game.

Key to Leeton’s success will be the influence of star centre Beniel Qereqeretabua, whose strong charges have terrorised many defences in 2023. Fullback Kirtis Fisher will also need to put in a big performance at the back if the Greenies are to get over the line in this one.

Meanwhile, the performance of DPC’s halves combination of Josh Veivers and Ben Jeffery will determine how the side fares on Sunday. The Roosters’ forward pack has been strong all year and should provide plenty of opportunity for enterprising play between the halves and backs.

Overall, the matchup points towards it being a defensive encounter. The advantage of playing at home is massive for Leeton, but the Roosters also have a good record on the road in 2023. This one has golden point written all over it.