They ended the Group 19 rugby league season as minor premiers and on Sunday – in front of a huge home grand final crowd – the Moree Boomerangs A grade side capped off a stellar year with a thrilling premiership victory against the Glen Innes Magpies.
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The pressure was on for the A grade side as they took to their home field at Burt Jovanovich Oval on Sunday afternoon after the Boomerangs under 18s and reserve grade sides had already secured their respective premierships.
It was then up to A grade to bring home the premiership trophy and make history for the club with three wins from three.
The Rangs got off to a strong start with two tries and two conversions early on bringing them to a 12-0 lead.
By the end of the first half the home side was leading 18-6 but an early second half try to the Magpies and the following successful conversion took it to 18-12.
The Rangs scored and converted two more times, before a second-half surge by the Magpies narrowed the difference to just two points with only 11 minutes remaining.
A final try by Peter Duncan and successful conversion by Will Fernando was enough to secure the win for the Rangs, with the final score 36-28.
Moree Boomerangs president Mitchell Johnson said the boys played well against a strong Glen Innes side.
“It was always going to be a tough game,” Johnson said.
“Glen Innes weren’t going to be a club who just rolls over, they’ve had really good defence through the year and we just knew we had to complete our sets and grind it out and hopefully in the back end we’d score a few tries.”
“It went our way. We were pretty dominant in the first half. We hung on in the end to do enough, but that’s all you’ve got to do in the grand finals.”
A strong defence and taking advantage of opportunities in attack helped secure the victory for the boys.
While Toby Key was named player of the match, Johnson said the win was a whole team effort.
“Across the paddock, all the guys were good. It takes the full 17 to win it and everyone just played well on the day,” he said.
The A grade victory topped off a perfect day.
“I’m just over the moon. As club president, I couldn’t be prouder of the lads,” Johnson said.
This is the first time the Boomerangs have won three premierships in one year, a feat Johnson said is testament to the strength of the club as a whole.
“It takes a strong club to be able to win the three grades,” Johnson said.
“You’ve got to have depth through the grades.
“It’s just a significant day for the club and I think we can keep rolling on next year with a really good crop of young blokes coming through.”