By Tallon Smith

The Warialda Wombats may hail from a town with a population of just over 1,000 people, but little did that matter on Sunday after they defeated Inverell 60-32 in the Group 19 Grand Final at Jim Payne Oval.

The Wombats piled on the points to break a 17-year drought dating back to their 2007 triumph over Guyra, winning a record 10th Group 19 Premiership in the process, inclusive of its former iteration as Group 5.

Inverell Prop Braydon Milakovic opened the scoring followed by another to William Jerrard as the Hawks shot out of the blocks to an early lead.

Warialda hit back though, with Brandon McGrady scoring the first of two quick Wombats tries, before tempers flared, with Inverell forward Alex Hull sent off and Warialda’s Luke Berger sent to the sin bin.

After another try to the Wombats put them ahead, Inverell centre Sam Perrin scored a quickfire double to send the Hawks into the break with a 26-20 lead.

However, it was the Wombats who came out of the break the better of the two sides, with Jade Girard, Geoffrey Prince and captain David McGrady all crossing over to put Warialda firmly ahead.

More tries to the Wombats and a further round of sin-binnings followed, before Perrin grabbed his third in the dying stages to ensure Inverell avoided a scoreless second half, with the final score of 60-32 leaving the Warialda crowd in raptures.

Meanwhile, the Camden Rams completed a perfect season in the Group 6 Macarthur competition with a 38-26 victory over The Oaks in the Grand Final at Campbelltown Stadium.

Boasting a side featuring former NRL players Trent Peoples and Danny Fualalo, the Rams ran in seven tries to five to secure the title, their second in the three seasons since the Group 6-Macarthur Rugby League merger.

The Erina Eagles joined them as 2024 Premiers after a 12-6 win over Toukley in the Central Coast Rugby League Grand Finals at Morry Breen Oval in Wyong.

After controversially advancing to the decider following a 24-all draw with Woy Woy, something which attracted the ire of former Sharks Premiership winner Andrew Fifita on Instagram, the Eagles broke a 33-year drought in a tense finale dating back to their 1991 victory.

Finally, the Kendall Blues also etched their name into history with a 40-12 thrashing of the Beechwood Shamrocks in the Hastings League decider.

The win secured back to back titles for the Blues, and their fourth in the past nine completed seasons.

Although the season is coming to a close, plenty of other matches were played over the weekend, and are detailed in our weekly scoreboard below.

Scoreboard

Group 3

Major Semi Final: Port Macquarie Sharks 30 defeated Macleay Valley 22

Minor Semi Final: Old Bar 38 defeated Wingham 18

Hastings League

Grand Final: Kendall 40 defeated Beechwood 12

Group 19

Grand Final: Warialda 60 defeated Inverell 32

Group 9

Preliminary Final: Wagga Kangaroos 24 defeated Temora 4

Group 20

Grand Final: Darlington Point-Coleambally 46 defeated Griffith Black & Whites 12

Group 6/Macarthur

Grand Final: Camden 38 defeated The Oaks 26

Group 7

Grand Final: Gerringong 28 defeated Shellharbour Sharks 20

Central Coast

Grand Final: Erina 12 defeated Toukley 6

Newcastle Division

Major Semi Final: Maitland 40 defeated Centrals 12

Elimination Final: The Entrance 28 defeated Souths 10