Proten Cup: Dragons defy halftime deficit to shock Lizards in epic finale, Rams win again

By Tallon Smith & Jamie Parsons

The Rankins Springs Dragons are the 2024 ProTen Community Cup premiers after a come from behind 20-18 victory over Narrandera at Narrandera Sportsground in the Grand Final on Saturday afternoon.

The Dragons, who proudly proclaim their status as the ‘smallest town in NSW with a rugby league club’, chased down an 18-4 halftime deficit to win their third premiership in the past seven seasons and their seventh title in club history.

Dragons President and winger Brent Parsons described the feeling of winning another title as ‘unbelievable’ for the small-town side, many of whom are local farmers or based in nearby larger centres such as Griffith.

“I don’t want to swear but it’s unbelievable mate, it’s the greatest feelings in the world,” he said.

“I don’t know if it’s [better] the first time or the second time or the third time, but it’s pretty special.

“That last five or ten minutes, you could have swore you were at Suncorp Stadium last Wednesday night, it was deafening, the crowd.”

The two sides break from a scrum during Saturday’s Grand Final (*Image: ProTen Community Cup*)

Parsons described the timeline of the match, which saw Narrandera gain ascendency before the Dragons mounted an unlikely comeback to end the two year reign and 17-game winning streak dating back to June 2022 of the formidable Lizards side.

“We scored first, we came out of the blocks, and then we just took our foot off the pedal,” he said.

“They played some really good, smart footy [to establish the lead], then [in the] second half there was a 30 or 40 kilometre an hour wind.

“Damo [Damian Walker] kicked 40-20, got down there, [and we] just had the foot on the throat the whole time and never took it off.

“We did not drop the ball once that second half, that’s just determination from the boys.”

As for what the premiership win means to the club and the town, Parsons said it is exactly what the community needed after a tough year last year.

“We’ve had some pretty dark times the last two years and I’m pretty sure three times [the population of] Rankins Springs was here today cheering us on,” he said.

“From what we had last year to this year it’s just a full 180, and I think there [was] already about four and a half, five grand over the bar at the Springs when we [got] back there, so we’ll be partying on for a couple of days.”

Rankins Springs Co-Captains Damian Walker and Josh Johnston lift the trophy (*Image: ProTen Community Cup*)

Meanwhile, Rankins Springs Co-Coach Damian Walker said that the turning point in the match came after the Dragons began to focus on their ball handling.

“The main thing was we were doing too much defending in the first half,” he said.

“That was our main focus, we had to hold on to the ball in the second half and we knew we had the points in us.

“We just had to stop giving away silly penalties and stop losing the ball in their territory.

“Ball control in the second half, that’s what won us the game in the end.”

Walker echoed Parsons’ words in praising their supporters who travelled over to Narrandera on the day, joining the Lizards faithful in creating an amazing atmosphere.

“The support was unreal, the last couple of minutes we could just hear ‘Dragons’ being chanted from the sidelines,” he said.

While the Dragons went marching in on the day, it would be remiss not to mention the work of Narrandera RLFC volunteers including Shaun Lyons, Corey Prior, Nick Brett, Noka Prior and many others, who organised a great day of football to celebrate the Lizards’ centenary.

The day featured Darlington Point-Coleambally playing Yanco-Wamoon in the Group 20 Reserve Grade and League Tag fixtures, won by DPC 34-8 and 52-0 respectively, while Narrandera’s Under 16s, who compete in Group 20 and travel on Yanco’s draw line, scored their first win of the season back at home 12-6 over the Roosters.

Congratulations to the Lizards on the milestone from Battlers For Bush Footy.

Jamie Parsons has full match reports from the Men’s and Women’s Grand Finals below.

Match Reports – Men’s and Women’s Grand Finals

Barellan reversed their Major Semi Final loss to Ivanhoe to win the premiership on Saturday (*Image: ProTen Community Cup*)

In the women’s grand final Barellan came out firing after Ivanhoe caused the upset in the major semi, up 10-0 early before Ivanhoe pegged one back.

In the second half the Rams continued their dominance, with Tommi Booth completing a hat trick to seal a back to back premiership for Barellan, with the final score reading 26-6.

Barellan captain Monique Higgins told Griffith’s The Area News that the loss to the Hens in the Major Semi was a big wake-up call for the side.

“It was a big game for us, and everyone turned up for us today, which was great,” she said.

“It was a bit of a reality check to lose the game against Ivanhoe in the semis, but I think it was good. It picked the girls up and made them a bit more hungry.”

The wind was still blowing cold at the start of the men’s game as the Lizards and Dragons ran out.

The Dragons started well early and centre Codey Parsons, returning from a pec injury, dove over after 8 minutes.

A problem in the crowd held up the restart and a Dragons error once play resumed led to Malek Afuamua scoring three tackles later.

Tries to Jamain Morgan and Brody Williams continued the Lizards first half dominance, halftime 18-4 to Narrandera with centre D’Andre Williams sent to the sin bin right on the siren.

The Dragons used the extra man advantage to get back in the game with prop Jason Cronin barging over before adding his second a few minutes later after a Damian Walker 40/20.

Now only down by 2, a penalty for a late hit marched the Dragons down the field again and rookie of the year Salesi Fatafehi put in a grubber to the corner which beat everyone but winger Jesse James.

With ten minutes left and up by 2, the Dragons repelled several Narrandera raids on their line to win the Grand Final 20-18. Jason Cronin named man of the match.

The Dragons increase their premiership tally in the Proten era to three in six years, with Narrandera on two and Goolgowi one.

Eight players – both coaches along with Brent Parsons, Andrew Streat, Jamie Parsons, Billy Vearing, Josh Curphey and Bart McIntyre – have been a part of all three Grand final wins.

The win was emotional for the Dragons players, with first time coaches Damian Walker and Josh Johnston leading the team to a premiership after finishing fifth with only one win in 2023, after beloved local players Dane Richards and Sam Prince passed away last year.

Rankins Springs, a small town of 200 people, maintain their footy club on a small group of volunteers, local players, a few expats and some good mates willing to travel out for training each week and some big away trips.

Despite a small population, the love of rugby league that dates back generations has produced some brilliant footballers and some big hearts that more than make up for a lack of population.

The club has now overseen three premierships from three Grand Finals since the Proten Cup began in 2018, and 12 grand final appearances in their last 20 seasons played dating back to 1992, with 12 years in the wilderness after the collapse of Group 17 in 2006.