Cover Photo: Kate Dyball

By Tallon Smith

They may have spent two decades in the footballing wilderness, but those days are firmly in the rear view mirror after the Snowy River Bears took out the Group 16 Premiership with a 20-12 win over Eden at Narooma on Sunday.

The Bears, whose last triumph was their 18-0 victory over the same opposition in 1996, scored first in the match, before Eden hit back to go up 6-4 after 31 minutes of play.

The Snowy River side hit back though, scoring four minutes later, before a tense 30 minutes followed on the other side of half time.

Any fears of letting the famous Group 16 Shield slip from their grasp however quickly disappeared in the final 10 minutes as the Bears scored and then cancelled out a late Eden try with another on the full time siren to claim their first premiership in 28 years.

Snowy River Bears President Fred Freebody said that the win was unbelievable for the small-town club, who battle both regular snowfall and other location-related adversity to compete in the competition each season.

“It was unbelievable, it’s 28 years since we’ve won a Grand Final,” he said.

“It was just amazing when we took the shield into the Banjo Paterson Inn, the pub that is our major sponsor.

“The crowd went crazy, it was the best feeling, all the boys were so happy and it was just the best thing ever.”

Speaking on the match and the many close battles with Eden this year, Freebody said that the match was a close and physical one, with the Bears emerging victorious after holding onto their narrow lead for the entire second half.

“It was was [close] with two and a half to go, and our big halfback [Brendon

Taueki] threw a dummy and scored under the posts with about a minute to go,” he said.

“It was tough though, they’re a good side Eden, they had some really good players, and we knew it was going to be tough.

“They gave us a bit of a touch up, about 52-10, we had a couple of blokes out, and then we went back and [beat them in the Major Semi] 32-22.

“It was a really good game and everyone played well.”

Freebody said that the win means a lot to the town, with football matches being among the main social events for its population of 2,900 people during the cold and isolating Snowy Mountains winters.

“There’s two teams, there’s the Bears and the Bushpigs, a rugby union side, and it’s their [the people’s] main entertainment,” he said.

“The town sponsors the two teams and it’s very cold and isolated.

“The big thing with the town is, we can get footballers to come, but the biggest thing is accommodation.

“We can get them work but accommodation is so expensive, that’s one drawback for the club.

“But the town went absolutely crazy, I’ve never seen so many people when we’ve got home from football ever, the town thrives on stuff like [this].”

In the lower grades, Tathra won the Reserve Grade Premiership with a 20-12 victory over Moruya, Bombala beat Eden 20-0 in the League Tag decider, and Merimbula-Pambula took out the Under 18s title 20-6 over Bega.

Josh Shepherdson scored two tries and four goals for a 16-point haul for the Sea Eagles in the Reserves decider as they beat a resilient Sharks team in their first season back from recess, while Rachael Babidge emulated his feats for her own 16-point performance for the Blue Heelers’ League Tag side.