Tallon Smith

Collegians made amends for the disappointment of last year’s extra time loss to Wests and ended Corrimal’s dream of ending a 52-year premiership drought with a 56-12 victory in the Illawarra Rugby League grand final at WIN Stadium on Saturday.

In front of a huge crowd, many in red and green, the Collie Dogs piled on 10 tries to secure their first title since 2022 and their 13th overall premiership.

Collegians coach Jimmy Grehan said although their loss 12 months ago was tough to take, the lessons from that match were a big factor in the side’s success this time around.

“After last year, the way our season went, we played so well, we were easily the best team all year, and then to lose the grand final in overtime was heartbreaking, but I also think that actually prepared us for this year too, the way we trained, the way we prepared, it wasn’t any shock to us,” he said.

“We learnt our lessons from last year, that’s for sure.

“You say it all year long, but [you try to] leave your best until last, and it was for us, I couldn’t be any more happier with how it ended up.”

It was Corrimal who opened the scoring through back rower Mani Richter five minutes into the contest, only for Collegians to return serve with three tries to Tex Anderson, Nic Hall and Dante Lusio to open up a 14-6 lead through 24 minutes.

Needing a reply, the Cougars found one almost immediately, with Joshua Briggs going over underneath the posts to close the gap to 14-12, only for Collegians halfback Blair Grant to hit back and extend the margin again to eight points at the break.

An error upon the resumption gifted the Collie Dogs field position and allowed James Lee to score from dummy half off the second play of the ensuing set.

That proved to open the floodgates, with Nic Hall leaping over Lorima Saukuru to kickstart a cavalcade of Collegians tries as Charly Runciman crossed for a double alongside further four-pointers to Zach Herring, Karps Karaitiana as the final margin reached 44 points.

After a grand final week that was largely about Corrimal reaching its first big dance in 37 years in search of a first title since 1974, Collegians proved the ultimate spoilers, putting on a party of their own in the Wollongong sunshine.

With the overwhelming weight of support against them, Grehan said his team used it as further motivation, though he said there was a nervous moment when Corrimal created a chance to go up by two scores early and bring the crowd into the match.

“It was backs against the wall, no one wants us to win, ‘they’re gonna turn WIN Stadium green and red’, so we used all those little things as motivation,” he said.

“I know the scoreline blew out at the end, but there was a stage where they were up by six and they dropped a ball that [would have] probably put them up by 12.

“Fortunately for us, that was a missed opportunity for them, and we swung the momentum and scored straight after that, so it was a 10-point swing for them really.”

Man of the match honours went to Collegians halfback Grant, who along with try double scorers Hall and Runciman, was outstanding on the day.

Grehan said he was pleased with the performance of all three players, with Hall and Grant’s play in attack a highlight.

“They were huge, both of them impacted the game so much, Nic with his aerial sort of attack, and Blair with just his game management and setting a few tries up,” he said.

“Blokes like Charly, Nic Hall and Blair, when we went through that little bad stage, [those] boys were always still giving 110 percent, so it was just so good to see them play so well in these big games.”

However, the most courageous performance of them all was that of back rower Karpz Karaitiana, who put on the Collegians jersey just days after losing his father and highly respected Gilgandra community man Quentin.

“[He] lost his dad only a couple of days beforehand, a bit of a surprise, he had a heart attack out at Gilgandra playing basketball,” Grehan said.

“For a player like him to turn up and actually play, I was just so proud.”

In the lower grades, Wests provided more heartbreak for Corrimal, claiming a fourth straight reserve grade title with a 19-18 win, while the Avondale Greyhounds downed Northern Suburbs to seal a third consecutive third grade crown.

COLLEGIANS 56 (Nic Hall 2, Charly Runciman 2, Tex Anderson, Dante Lusio, Blair Grant, James Lee, Zach Herring, Karpz Karaitiana tries; Grant 8 goals) DEFEATED CORRIMAL 12 (Mani Richter, Joshua Briggs tries; Saifiti Saifiti 2 goals) at WIN Stadium, Saturday September 19.

Roos turn tables on Blues to claim Canberra Raiders Cup

The Queanbeyan Kangaroos turned the tables on cross-town rivals and defending premiers Queanbeyan Blues with a 28-16 victory in the Canberra Raiders Cup grand final at Seiffert Oval on Saturday.

12 months after a Dylan McLachlan try broke their hearts, the Roos returned the favour with a five tries to three victory to seal their third title in four years.

Meanwhile, the Yass Magpies claimed their first reserve grade premiership since 1960 with a 24-18 victory over the West Belconnen Warriors.

Wyong downs Erina to claim Central Coast crown

The Wyong Roos downed minor premiers Erina for the second time in a fortnight to claim the Central Coast Rugby League with an 18-4 win at Morry Breen Oval on Saturday.

Three tries to Luke Sharpe, former Sydney Rooster Matt Ikuvalu and Zac Ryan were enough to seal the deal for a 14-point victory, with Zade Besley scoring Erina’s lone four-pointer.

The victory is Wyong’s first premiership in a decade, and comes in the first season after the club withdrew its teams in the Newcastle Rugby League to focus on just the Central Coast competition.