CENTRAL North added to their Richardson Shield tally in trying circumstances at Bowral yesterday.
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Not only did the Kookaburras have to contend with atrocious conditions, with the field resembling a bog hole, but they had to play almost the entire second half with only 14 men.
But they got there in the end, beating Southern Inland 20-15 to not only claim the silverware but promotion into the Caldwell Cup next year.
They had some fortune in making it through to the final.
After brushing aside New England 36-nil in the morning, they won their semi-final on a coin toss after neither they nor Far North Coast could manage a point.
Yesterday they scored 12 unanswered points to win after trailing 15-8 midway through the second half.
“We scored two tries in the last 25 minutes,” co-coach Hunter Harley said.
Number eight Matt Wannan was the man of the moment, scoring both.
Harley thought in the first half they had the better of the possession and territory but just “poorly executed a couple of things”.
“They (Southern Inland) were probably only down there four times and scored off two of them,” he said.
Things looked like turning further against them when George Duddy was red-carded about five minutes into the second half.
But down to 14, they rallied and were able to maintain possession a bit more and build a bit of pressure.
“It was probably one of the gutsiest performances we’ve (Harley and co-coach Tom Cullen) seen from a group of players,” Harley said.
“Everyone’s ecstatic with them.”
He and Cullen were particularly happy with the forward pack over the whole weekend, led by Matt McDonnell and Harry Veitch.
They also got great impact off the bench from the likes of Chris Clyne.
Skipper Matt Schwager, Jake Douglas and Soni Halanukonuka were also very good.
The Kookaburra Colts also had a tight one yesterday and finished third after hanging on to beat Central West 20-17 in their play-off game.
The Barry Everingham and Garry Walsh-coached side were stepping up to the Rowlands Cup after taking out the NRMA Colts Shield last year and put up a brave fight in their semi-final against Central Coast on Saturday, going down 17-3.
Yesterday, they also had to fight hard and were “phenomenal”, Everingham said.
After scoring in the opening minute and then leading 10-7 at the break, they got out to 20-10 only for Central West to close within three with about four minutes to go.
“We were also playing a man down,” Everingham said.
“We played the last eight a man down.”