In one of the closest grand finals in Toowoomba Rugby League history, Gatton Hawks won in extra time 24-20 over Valleys Roosters at Clive Berghofer Stadium on Saturday night.
The scores were locked at 20-20 at fulltime with Hawks winger Cameron Bundock scoring in the second minute of extra time to give Gatton a famous victory.
Valleys Roosters started the grand final the better with Denzel Burns and Todd White scoring in back-to-back sets to make the score 12-0 after 13 minutes.
The Roosters did have the momentum for a lot of the first half and they deserved to be in front.
It was a brutal, physical affair all game. Not one player was giving an inch in an absorbing match. The match settled down but the physicality did not wane.
Player of the match and the John McDonald Medallist, Gatton’s halfback Joel Hughes, scored the first of his two tries in the 27th minute as the Hawks grinded their way back into the match.
Hughes chimed in to the backline to score close to the posts to get the Hawks back into the match at 12-6.
Just three minutes later, Hughes put a clever kick in behind Roosters line for Mene Bakabaka to score and level it 12-12 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Just before half-time, Dwayne Duncan kicked a penalty to get the Roosters into the sheds 14-12 in front.
This brutal contest continued after the break with end-to-end play the norm. As the game went on the metre gains from each side were opening up the match more and more.
In the 53rd minute, that man Joel Hughes again finished off a good Gatton raid when he scored to get the Hawks in front for the first time 18-14.
Valleys dug deep and as the clock wound down Cory McGrady was trying everything to lift his side. He was tremendous and with 15 minutes remaining he set up Josh Keoller to return the Roosters to the lead 20-18.
The last 15 minutes was not for the faint hearted and the game was a credit to both teams' young men who put on one hell of a display.
After a chance to level the game, Gatton opted to run the ball but Valleys courageous defence held firm.
In a compliment to Valleys defence, Gatton kicked a penalty goal with five minutes remaining to level the scores 20-20. Then in the final minute, Hughes attempted to win the game with a field goal, but the drop kick went wide making the game go into extra time.
Valleys kicked off the overtime with their chase excellent and they kept Hawks in their 10-metre area for the first three tackles.
But good hit ups from the Hawks allowed Tom Luhrman to break a few tackles on the last tackle to get over halfway. Luhrman found Hawks five-eighth Travis Turnbull, who scooted through the smallest of gaps to sprint well into Valley’s half.
He linked with winger Cameron Bundock, who scored match winning try in the south-western corner to win an epic grand final for Gatton 24-20 after 82 minutes.
It was an amazing win. It has been a very long time since an A grade grand final has gone into extra time. This match deserved to go into overtime as we saw two excellent teams.
Hughes was amazing all game and did not panic. Luke Self was safe at the back. Dalton Desmond-Walker and Ben Haviland were good upfront. Mene Bakabaka’s first half performance was inspirational and was rewarded with a four pointer, whilst Olly Bichel and Joel Brett were excellent in their metreage grind.
Wingers Tye Gray and Cameron Bundock turned the opposition around time and time again.
For Valleys, Komiti Vetemotu was superb all night as was Cory McGrady with Denzel Burns always dangerous and co-captain Jason Sharpe inspirational. Josh Keoller ran with purpose all night with Todd White also going well.
But it was Gatton’s premiership after they finished the regular season minor premiers - their third premiership since their inclusion in the Toowoomba Rugby League competition.
Gatton 24 (Joel Hughes 2, Mene Bakabaka, Cameron Bundock tries; Leonard Thomas 3, Shannon Hicks goals) def Valleys 20 (Denzel Burns, Todd White, Josh Keoller tries; Dwayne Duncan 3, Cory McGrady goals)
TRL Toowoomba Sports Club Women
Highfields Eagles women’s team claimed their first premiership by winning the grand final 28-20 over three-time premiers Gatton.
Gatton scored first when Sarah Hoger got over the line after three minutes. Gatton had all the ball early and the momentum had to swing and after a few repeat sets on Gatton’s line, Eagles captain Ketlyn Collie crashed over to level the scores 4-4 after nine minutes.
Highfields had most of the momentum in the first half, but Gatton never went away, and Kim Dore split the Eagles defence to send Sarah Hoger in for her second try three minutes before half time. Gatton led 10-4 at the break.
A Courtney Robertson break set up the next try for Gatton when Bonnie Zappa played the ball almost right on the Eagles try line for Bridie Gray to simply pick the ball up from dummy half and place it on the try line to score. That made Gatton’s lead 14-4 four minutes into the second half.
The experience of Grey, Zappa, Hoger, Nolan and Dore were showing for the Hawks but somehow the Eagles always seemed capable of coming back - and come back they did.
They scored the next three tries to lead 20-14. Gatton just could not stop the momentum swing and Highfields' crispness in attack was excellent.
Their line speed at the advantage line was impressive and they starved Gatton of the ball to basically take them out of the contest.
Highfields props Katelyn Collie and Taylor Hancock were superb. They both made huge metre gains to set rolls for their side. Lock Eliza Morcom never stopped all day and was rewarded with the player of the grand final medal.
Highfields 20 (Tyla Cantwell, Morgan Prentice, Katelyn Collie, Courtney Jackson tries; Abbey Markey 2 goals) def Gatton 14 (Sarah Hoger 2, Bridie Gray tries Sarah Hoger goal)
Clive Berghofer Land Sales Reserve Grade
Valleys Roosters defended their 2023 premiership with a 28-20 win over Warwick Cowboys.
In a tight first half, Valleys had a lot of the momentum and they led 10-4 with tries from Declan Buckley and Antonie Roma. Warwick’s Micheal Marshall scored their first try.
Momentum changed to Warwick late in the first stanza, mainly due to Joey Wagner being introduced into the game.
His side lifted when he scored to make it 10-8. Reserve grade leading pointscorer Matt Henry kicked the conversion from the sideline to level the scores 10-all and we had a game on our hands.
But then the turning point - Wagner’s try was 90 seconds from half-time but Valleys finished off the half when winger Rex Koroi scored out wide to give the Roosters back the lead 14-10 at the break.
In the second half, Valleys player of the match Harrison Burns scored two tries in the 40th and 62nd minutes in an inspirational performance.
Valleys led 20-10 at the 40th minute but Warwick dug deep in their best period of the match when Lance McGrady Dennison scored out wide for the Cowboys.
Again, Matt Henry stepped up to kick the sideline conversion, making it 20-16 after 54 minutes.
But just two minutes later Anthony Pain scored the try of the match when he scored out wide in an inspirational run. It was an important moment as it created the largest margin in the match at that time, 24-16.
Then with eight minutes remaining, Burns scored his second try to all but sew up the match, but big 'Freddie' Vite grabbed a consolation try for Warwick in the last minute to give Valleys a 28-20 victory.
Burns and his halves partner Jaren Bender were superb for Valleys, as was Joel Saffy. The Valleys front rower never stopped all day. Veteran Joe Mau was fantastic for his team especially in the first half. He proved very difficult to contain right throughout the match.
For Warwick, halfback Dan Howard was their best with Nick Pails and 'Freddie' Vite trying hard all day. Captain Eamon Brownlie and Joey Wagner also played well.
Valleys 28 (Harrison Burns 2, Declan Buckley, Antonie Roma, Uraia Koroi, Anthony Pain tries; Jaren Bender 2 goals) def Warwick 20 (Micheal Marshall, Joey Wagner, Lance McGrady Dennison, 'Freddie' Vite tries Matthew Henry 2 goals)
TRL Under 19s
The Dalby Diehards won the 2024 TRL Under 19 grand final after defeating Southern Suburbs Tigers 32-18.
Dalby were the form side going into the grand final as minor premiers and having won the major semi-final against Valleys for a berth in the grand final.
Diehards started the better scoring the first two tries to lead 12-0 until Souths scored through their centre Pat Sanderson to get the back in the game after 15 minutes to make it 12-6.
The next 20 minutes was end-to-end play with plenty of skill, but neither side added points before half-time.
Early in the second half, Dalby were pressuring Souths line when Tigers' Ronan Delaney grabbed an intercept to run 80 metres to score and it was soon 12-all with the conversion.
It showed Dalby that Souths were not going away - the Tigers showed this determination all season.
The Diehards rallied and lifted to score the next three tries through lock Lyucian King-Togia, Joe Willett and Bailey Rathmell, the latter who scored a good individual try to get the Diehards to a 16-point lead with eight minutes remaining.
Matty Simpkin scored a well-deserved try for Souths with three minutes remaining. Then Dalby centre Matthew Drews put the icing on the cake to score at fulltime to give the Diehards the game 32-18.
Dalby five-eighth Joey Sankey won the player of the match. He was tremendous and kept his game management head on all game. Joe Gillett and Lyucian King-Togia were excellent in the middle with Brock Sankey superb at the back.
Souths halves Tait Cameron and Jake Durie tried hard, with Ronan Delaney dangerous all day.
Dalby 32 (Deasharn Hebden Salase, Brodie Wright, Lyucian King-Togia, Joe Gillett, Bailey Rathmell, Matthew Drews tries; Joey Sankey 4 goals) def Souths 18 (Pat Sanderson, Ronan Delaney, Matty Simpkin tries Tait Cameron 3 goals)
