PIRATES got their hands back on the Central North U16s silverware at Moree on Saturday but had to fight hard for it.
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After leading 22-12 at half-time the Joe Stolker and Andrew Bowden-coached side found themselves trailing cross-town rivals Tamworth 24-22 with just under 10 to go.
But there was one more twist, with Pirates replacement Bo Abra picking up from the scrum and crashing over to put them back in front.
Toby Maslen added the extra to push them out to 29-24 with five minutes to go.
They had a couple of chances after that to extend their lead beyond a converted try but opted to protract the nerves a bit longer, by turning down the points.
“It was nerve-racking in that last couple of minutes,” Stolker said.
“Especially when we got penalties and they opted to run it.”
The start set it up for them.
“It was an amazing start.
“They came out firing unlike they did in the major semi-final,” Stolker said.
“To get three quick tries in the first 15-20 it certainly set it up for us.”
Skipper and player of the grand final Jack Redfern then scored in the shades of half-time to give them a 10 point buffer at half-time.
The Magpies had a lot of the possession early in the second half and after a quick tap capitalised on that with Tyler Simshauser scoring to close the gap to five with just under 20 to go.
Some good backline play then opened up some space and outside centre Ben Grant went through for his second to tie up the scores.
Connor Robinson landed the extras to give the Magpies a two-point advantage.
Stolker admitted he thought it was all for them then.
They had exerted a lot of energy early on and were running on some tired legs.
“(But) They stuck it out and dug deep,” he said.
The game went pretty much as he expected with the forwards strong for them, and the backs for the Magpies.
Losing inside centre Jake McAuleey the week leading in didn’t help them, especially defensively.
“As we expected they cut us up in the backs,” Stolker said.
“They have got very good running backs.”
For them the maul was a real weapon.
“The boys mauled it really well off the lineout,” he said.
“We had three where we mauled 10-15m.”
Redfern has been amazing all season, he said, and has led from example since pre-season training.
Jye Paterson was great too at five-eighth.
“We didn’t gain him until the third round,” Stolker said.
He wasn’t going to play, but after watching their second round game against Magpies, decided to have a run.
Magpies coach Bernie Williams said his boys played pretty well.
“Our poor start and the try before half-time didn’t help us,” he said.
He put the start down to being a bit overwhelmed.
“They were just a bit overawed by the whole thing,” he said.
Their breakdown work wasn’t great either, they lost a bit of ball at the breakdown.
“The second half they came out a different team,” he said.
“The boys realised what game they had to play.”
And that was a bit wider of the rucks and using their backs more.
“The senior boys took control and held the ball a bit better and we exerted some pressure,” he said.
He thought they had it when they hit the front, but it wasn’t to be. Still they had a good year and Williams was thankful to the parents and people that had helped them out over the season.