The Tamworth Taipans will head into next year’s State Cup infused with confidence following the performance of the Northern NSW Bears at the weekend’s Australian Senior Oztag Championships at Coffs Harbour.
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The Tamworth-dominant Bears made it through to either the quarter or semi-finals in four of the five divisions they contested.
Senior oztag development officer Pam Potts had high hopes going into the championships and said it was a super effort from all involved.
“Overall the results were really impressive,” Potts said.
They also had four referees awarded finals.
Tony Mumford refereed the men’s 20s, Aaron Hall the women’s 20s, Ryan Schmiedel the men’s 30s and Andrew Green the men’s 55s.
Tim Thompson also won gold with the Central Coast men’s 45s, and Garth Pennefather and Milton Doyle silver with the Central Coast men’s 55s.
The Bears’ women’s 20s and senior mixed fell just short of the final, the senior mixed beaten in extra-time.
“They were really unlucky,” Potts said.
“It was such a close game, it was anyone’s to go through to the final.”
The women’s 20s went down by two tries to the Sunshine Coast Sonics in their semi-final.
“It was a draw up until half-time and the Sonic girls scored two amazing tries that got them the win,” Potts said.
Sonic went on to go down in the final in extra-time.
The men’s 20s led by two tries for probably three-quarters of their quarter-final reported Potts. to, as Potts reported “a team that had beaten them convincingly the day before”.
“In the last minutes of the game we had a sin-bin and the other side scored two tries and got up,” she said.
Still it was an “amazing effort” from the side with their opponents having beaten them by a margin of around 10 tries the previous day.
The Masters women also bowed out in the quarters while the men’s 30s were knocked out in the round games.
Potts said it was a great effort from them.
“They had much closer scorelines than the last time they competed at a similar tournament, so they’ve come a long way,” she said.
The weekend’s results show they are “not far off the mark” and has Potts excited for 2019 with the Bears combining with Newcastle, Maitland, Nelson’s Bay and Lake Macquarie for the nationals.
The State Cup will be held at Coffs Harbour in late March.
So far the Taipans have confirmed sides for the women’s and men’s 20s, women’s and mixed open, senior mixed, men’s 30s and masters women with the men’s 40s to be advised.
“We’ve got a lot of younger teams stronger now because of the carry over from juniors, and they’re coming through with experience. Unlike the old days where we had no juniors and they had no experience,” Potts said.
