John Fitzgerald
The stage is set for the Woodbridge Cup grand final, with Oberon to take on Blayney, at Sid Kallas Oval in Cowra on Sunday, August 30.
In the first grand final qualifier at Trundle, the visiting Blayney side took down Trundle Boomers 34-10 in a reversal of expectations.
The Boomers had slipped through the premiership rounds to the finals just one point behind popular favourites Oberon and Manildra, defeated only once in the regular season, by Oberon, but at the serious end of the competition have gone down by 24 points to miss out on a premiership chance in the 2026 decider.
Two of the three favourites have now been beaten before the grand final, Manildra by Cowra, then Trundle by Blayney.
Trundle lost Willy Goodsell to injury and his loss seemed to affect the team’s efforts as a whole, co-captain Blake Ridges saying that after Goodsell’s loss the team threw the game away, unable to curb Blayney’s enthusiasm, the Bears then winning their qualifier over Trundle by 24 points.
Blayney, finishing in fifth spot and with an understated but experienced side, will be a formidable opponent for last year’s premiers Oberon, especially at a neutral ground, and are expected to be a more dangerous adversary than Manildra in last year’s decider.
However Oberon, with an imposing pack of forwards, will not give up on their attempt at back-to-back premierships and will go into the game as slight favourites.
In their grand final qualifier Oberon disposed of Cowra relatively easily 36-8, the Magpies never in the hunt, beaten by seven tries to two.
With the likes of Ryan Jervis, Nate Barlow, Matt Ranse and veteran Luke Christie-Johnson, Oberon, going into the grand final, have plenty of experienced players not prepared to buckle to anyone.
The early clashes between the packs will be more than worthwhile getting to Cowra’s Sid Kallas ground early.
Woodbridge Cup Preliminary Finals
BLAYNEY 34 (Ryan Oborn, Alex Pettit, William Cramp, Bailey Large, Ashleigh Magaya, name private tries; Magaya 5 goals) DEFEATED TRUNDLE 10 (Bill Ryan, Mitchell Dinsey tries; Matthew Woolmington goal) at Berryman Oval, Saturday August 22.
OBERON 36 (Blake Fitzpatrick 2, Abel Faifua Lefaoseu, Matt Ranse, Jesse Lualua, Nathan Barlow tries; Blake Fitzpatrick 3, name private goals) DEFEATED COWRA 8 (Jayden Williams, Darcy Howard tries) at Oberon Tigers Sports Recreation Ground, Sunday August 23.
