By Tallon Smith

The Darlington Point-Coleambally Roosters have completed one of country rugby league’s greatest comebacks to defeat the Griffith Black and Whites 32-31 at EW Moore Oval on Sunday afternoon.

After leading 26-0 at half-time, the Black and Whites were firmly in control of the match, and appeared to be cruising to a Grand Final appearance in front of a healthy home crowd in attendance.

However, the Roosters came out firing after the break, scoring six tries in 31 minutes to take a 32-27 lead with three minutes to play.

The match had one final twist yet to play out though, with Black and Whites Prop Chris Latu scoring on the bell to give Stephen Broome a kick to put Griffith in the Grand Final.

With the eyes of the crowd and the entire Group 20 district on him, Broome narrowly missed the kick, which sent the Roosters into the Grand Final after a match that could only be described as mind-blowing.

Darlington Point-Coleambally Five-Eighth Josh Veivers said that the match was like no other he had played in throughout his long and storied career.

“It’s crazy, that’s the only way to describe it,” he said.

“Me and a few of the boys think we’ve never ever been a part of a game like that.

“It’s just momentum, that’s footy, we got on the back of it like they did in the first half.”

A former Super League star with Wigan, Wakefield and Salford, Veivers said that fellow former professional star and DPC skipper Ben Jeffery’s half time speech instilled belief and confidence in the side, who almost mounted a comeback win over the same opposition just two weeks ago.

“Benny was really calm and collected in the sheds,” he said.

“Obviously it wasn’t ideal [being 26-0 down].

“[But] after the first try and the second try the belief grew and grew.”

Ahead of the Grand Final, Veivers said the team are remaining calm and focused, and have enjoyed a week of recovery and team bonding as a reward for gaining the week off after an arduous campaign.

“I think the week’s rest is very much needed,” he said.

“We’ll ramp up the preparations [next week] based on who we’re playing.

“There’ll be slight differences to the game plan for Leeton and the Black and Whites.”

Speaking of Leeton, the Greenies won their way through to the Preliminary Final with a 42-26 win over the Yenda Blueheelers in the Minor Semi Final at Wade Park on Saturday.

Daniel, Kirtis and Josh Fisher were all among the tryscorers for the Leeton side, who ran in eight four-pointers to five in the victory.

Todd Granger was among the best for the Yenda side, scoring a hat-trick in the losing effort, whilst both halves in Henry Taylor and Isaiah Little-Buerckner crossed for the boys in blue.

Leeton’s reward is another sudden-death showdown with the Black and Whites in the Preliminary Final, which will be played at Darlington Point Sportsground from 2:35pm on Sunday.

Lower Grades

In Reserve Grade, the Griffith Black and Whites continued their run from fifth place, eliminating West Wyalong with a 24-18 win at Yenda on Saturday. 

Ethan Williams scored a try and kicked four goals for the Griffith side for a personal haul of 12 points, whilst Mitchell Pettit crossed for a double and kicked three conversions totalling 14 points in a losing side for the Mallee Men.

Meanwhile, Yenda defeated Leeton 24-6 to move through to the Grand Final in their bid to defend their 2022 title.

These results mean that in an identical reflection of the First Grade encounter, the Black and Whites will face Leeton in Sunday’s Preliminary Final.

League Tag saw West Wyalong take out the Major Semi 28-14 over the Black and Whites, whilst the Greenies live to fight another day after beating Yenda 12-8 in the elimination match.

Leeton moved through to the Decider in the Under 18s with a nail-biting 22-20 win over the Black and Whites, whilst TLU won the Under 16s Minor Semi 34-22 over DPC and will play Leeton in the Preliminary Final after they lost to the Grand Final-bound Black and Whites 12-10 in the Major Semi.