Put simply, the inaugural Wests Entertainment Group 9s was an unexpected gift.
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It emerged from the wreckage of the COVID-obliterated Group 4 season like a ray of sunshine from a grey sky.
And at Scully Park on Saturday night, before a healthy and appreciative crowd, the competition put its best foot forward in its final performance ... for this year at least.
And Marius Street Family Dental, a side led by Scott Blanch and layered with strike power, won the finale by clinically beating the previously unbeaten Brenton Cochrane-led Carey's Freight Lines.
The final score was 22-15, with MSFD opening the scoring - and never headed - when Shauib Rhodes-Swain scooted down the eastern touchline to score.
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CFL - who made the final after downing Shay Brennan Constructions 32-18 in the first game of the evening - hit back quickly with an excellent team try that was started when Nathanael Slater raced down the western touchline, then found Brayden Reid with an inside ball, who in turn found big Cooper Thompson in full flight: 6-4.
But then it was the MSFD show, after they advanced to the final by beating JT Fossey 23-15 in their first game on Saturday.
First, Jack Rumsby - who is now living in Newcastle and playing first grade there - scored out wide just before the break: 12-4 after Matt Wilson's conversion.
Early in the second half, Brett Jarrett - a former Storm, Rabbitohs and Knights lower-grade player - crashed over from close range: 16-4.
With just over four minutes remaining, Cochrane manufactured a Sam Taylor try.
But it was shut the gate when Jarrett scored his second try.
All the 16 players we had, they were all great for us.
- Matt Wilson
Wilson, the man of the match, said MSFD's side on Saturday was their "most balanced" of the month-long competition.
"Which really helped us," he said. "There was no one who was a standout player: all the 16 players we had, they were all great for us."
JT Fossey skipper Mitch Doring was named man of the series.