Photo: Mandy Brooke-Barnes
Tallon Smith
The Hay Magpies will face DPC in the club’s first top grade Grand Final in three decades after securing the second spot in the decider with a 40-34 win over the Griffith Waratah Tigers at Leeton on Sunday.
A week after their epic extra time win over Leeton, the Magpies again needed extra time to get past a willing Waratahs team in yet another great game in this year’s Group 20 finals series.
The Magpies shot out to a 10-0 lead early in the match, and looked set to score a third try, before an intercept try brought Waratahs to life.
The Tigers took control from there, opening up a 22-14 lead at half time with a try just before the break, and extending that lead to 34-14 in the second half with 18 minutes to go.
But with their season again flashing before their eyes, the Magpies clicked into gear, running in three tries, the final one coming off a chip and chase with just over a minute remaining, to level the scores at 34-all and send the match into extra time.
Then, in a moment that will live long in the memory of weary Hay supporters, Jeremaia Nakete crashed over to give the Magpies the lead, one they wouldn’t relinquish, as they booked their ticket to a first grade decider for the first time since their 1995 Group 17 triumph over Rankins Springs.
Hay coach Chris Stewart said that the win and the Grand Final berth means a lot to the playing squad, some of whom have never played in a first grade grand final before.
“It means a lot to the players, I know that for sure, they’ve had a long stretch with no success,” he said.
“Out of the last five years, they’ve had three wooden spoons and the ones when they didn’t get a wooden spoon they would have been second last.
“It means a lot to the players, and it means a lot to the town, rugby league is alive and well in Hay and it always has been, but they’ve just been starved of success for so long, so they finally get something to enjoy for a little while.”
When posed the question of how the side was feeling when staring down the barrel of an 18-point deficit with 18 minutes to play, Stewart said that while they were always confident of finishing the stronger of the two sides, they were a little concerned about their ability to chase down the Tigers at that particular point.
“We were always confident that if we took the game deep enough, we’d always have the legs to run over them in the end,” he said.
“That’s no disrespect to them, they’re a good side, they’re a powerful side, but we knew we’d have the legs to run over them.
“It looked at one point like we’d probably left ourselves with a little bit too much work to do when it was 34-14, but as the boys have done all year and all finals series, we just started chipping away at that lead.”
One challenge the team faces heading into the Grand Final against arch-rivals DPC is the long stretch of must-win games the side has played, while their opponents have had to play one game in the past three weeks.
Despite the possibility of fatigue setting in, Stewart said that the magnitude of the achievement and the fitness of the squad will ensure they are ready to go come Grand Final day.
“We’ve had to have been up for a really long time now,” he said.
“After the Yenda loss, which I think was four weeks before finals started, we had to pretty much win every game from there, so the boys have been up for a long time, but they’ve definitely got it left in them.
“They’re a fit side, everyone’s pulling up okay, we haven’t got any injuries or anything, so we’ll be freshening ourselves up this week and getting ready to give it a red hot crack.”
In an incredible show of depth at the perennially battling club, Hay will contest three grades at Grand Final Day on Sunday, with the club’s Women’s Tackle side and Reserve Grade outfit joining the first graders on the big stage.
When asked what it means to have three sides in the Grand Final for the first time certainly in recent memory, Stewart said it is a fantastic achievement, but the Magpies are not taking their opponents lightly.
“I haven’t been here long enough to say for sure, but Group 20 is obviously a bit of a step up from Group 17,” he said.
“Hay was a powerhouse in Group 17, then came over to Group 20 and really struggled.
“It’s going to be a huge day for the club, it’s good to see the ressies get through with top spot, they’re freshened up and they’re ready to go and hopefully they can get the win and we can get the one after them.
“But like I said a couple of weeks ago, Darlington Point are a class side, they’ve played two games in the last month, and they earned that by finishing where they did, so they’ll be freshened up and they’ll be ready to go so hopefully it’ll be a good game.”
And so, the two teams that opened the season at the Hay Park Oval back in April will contest the final game of the season at Solar Mad Stadium on the last Sunday of September.
DPC has had the better of the encounters this year, running out 34-20 winners in round one, and 42-32 victors at home in round nine.
Overall, the Roosters will go in favourites, but although many pundits will tip them, The Battler will stick with his initial tip from the start of the year and predict Hay to win by two points, with Brad Pocock my pick for the Barry Hails Medal as best on ground.
Lower Grades & Women’s Competitions
Looking at Grand Finals in other grades, Hay will face the Waratah Tigers again next weekend in the Reserve Grade Grand Final after the Griffith club defeated DPC 20-14 in the Preliminary Final.
With the same three teams making the final three across both grades, Hay is the lucky club with a shot at both open age men’s titles, but standing in their way in the second grade competition is Luke Farmer’s defending premier outfit with the experience of last year’s triumph in the memory bank.
The two clubs will face off again immediately after when the Magpies take on the Waratah Tigers in the Women’s Tackle Premiership Grand Final.
The Magpies joined Waratahs in the big dance with a 38-12 win over Yanco-Wamoon in the Preliminary Final.
Leeton will join Hay in having three grades playing on Grand Final day after wins over Black and Whites in the League Tag (24-4), Waratahs in the Under 18s (36-6), and Black and Whites in the Under 16s (44-22).
The Greenies will take on the three Major Semi Final winners across the grades in the Grand Final, being West Wyalong in the League Tag, Black and Whites in the Under 18s, and TLU in the Under 16s.
Grand Final action at Solar Mad Stadium begins at 9am on Sunday.
