Penrith District Rugby League: Emu Plains and Colyton, every grand final wrap, 80+ gallery
Emu Plains were raging favourites to claim back-to-back Penrith RL premierships, but Colyton had other ideas in a grand final for the ages. Wrap of all five deciders at Windsor, 80+ GALLERY
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With five grand finals on show, Windsor was the place to be on Sunday as the top teams in Penrith RL battled for premiership glory.
In the headline act, minor premiers Emu Plains met the fast finishing Colyton Colts in an absolute epic.
Full wrap of all five grand finals, plus check our massive photo gallery.
ROLLER COASTER EPIC
The script went out the window, but for coach Darren Bell it’s mission complete. Emu Plains are back-to-back Don Feltis Cup champions.
After entering the finals in fifth spot and before a massive crowd at Windsor, Colyton were given little chance of upsetting the minor premiers.
Despite the odds, they opened a double-digit halftime lead and even after Isaac Thompson orchestrated a miracle comeback the Colts kept pressing only to fall short 20-18.
Having only lost one game all season, Emu Plains were forced to do it the hard way. They trailed 12-0, but struck immediately after the break when winger Nicholas Hancock swooped on a wayward pass to score against the run of play.
Already carrying the physical burden of consecutive extra-time victories, the Hancock try could have easily sparked an avalanche of points. Instead, Colyton returned serve and jumped clear 18-6 when Russell Milne barged across with half an hour to play.
But just as they’ve done all season, Emu weathered the storm and applied the blowtorch in emphatic fashion.
Since joining in the off-season, Thompson has called the shots for the majority of the year, and with the trophy up for grabs the star five-eighth flipped the script in a pulsating 11 minutes.
Along with Ryan Starr the pair combined to send winger Daniel Warren over for his 20th try of the season. Thompson went left again several minutes later, opening space for Greg Alderson to power over.
But it was his final try assist that ultimately set Emu Plains on the road to glory. Down by two and with 13 minutes left, the No.6 found Warren unmarked with a pinpoint kick to the left corner.
Warren’s double saw Emu hit the front for the first time, and at 20-18 there was to be no more scoring.
Colyton pressed in the final minute, and almost struck gold twice. Leo Tupe charged at the line, only to be held up and then denied under the posts by watertight defence.
While Thompson proved clutch, Colyton’s Jesse Poulsen was the star before halftime in a performance that saw him awarded player of the match.
Entering the clash with a strained calf, the electric fullback was everywhere. Following a break by centre James Ross, Poulsen dashed across after 13 minutes, then grubbered for himself just before halftime.
WOLVES STRIKE BACK
In reserve grade, a dominant second half by Windsor has seen the Wolves down Emu Plains 24-8 to claim the Jan Cameron Trophy.
Emu Plains opened the scoring when fullback Cameron Johnson handled twice to finish a raid down the right edge, but the Wolves took a 12-4 lead to the sheds following solo tries to centre James Sidis and No.7, Connor Potter-Jugovac.
Johnson busted clear after the break to help narrow the margin to four, but Emu Plains had no answer to the minor premiers who closed out the contest with the final two tries of the match.
Five-eighth Justin Salgado weaved through from dummy-half, before captain Daniel Arona barged across from a scrum to kick start the celebrations.
COLTS RIDING HIGH
Colyton couldn’t go all the way in first grade, but the Colts capped off a fine season in under-19s, coming from fifth spot to down St Clair 38-12 in the grand final.
Colyton exploded out of the blocks in the opening set. Garylee Tohovaka powered through centrefield, and his clever offload sent Jack Attard racing away to score under the posts.
Undeterred, St Clair knuckled down and levelled through Blake Williams. An epic second half looked to be taking shape when Comets half Mitchell Owen struck a minute before the siren to make it 12-all.
From there, Colyton went to town. Winger Nathan Grant finished a sweeping shift on the right edge, and the Colts had another when hooker Billy Thompson put centre Joshua Debritt over on the other side of the field.
With all the momentum Colyton added another two tires. Prop Alema Seualuga showed his strength from close range, before Debritt bagged his second.
SAINTS IN EXTRA-TIME
Minor premiers St Marys are under-17s Div-1 premiers after the Saints downed Brothers 18-12 in an extra-time thriller.
Neither side troubled the scorers in an even first half before St Marys took control to lead 12-0 six minutes after the resumption.
The first try took 33 minutes, but it was one worth waiting for. In a move that criss-crossed the width of the field, centre Samuel Kopp latched onto the final pass to cross in the left corner. Hunter Bell landed what proved to be a vital conversion from the sideline to make it 6-0.
Backrower Carter Saua finished a long range effort minutes later. But with both sides dripping with talent, Brothers were always going to fire a shot.
In the chase for points Brothers began to offload at will, and eventually got on the board through centre Daniel Loi Fagalima Faumui. With 11 to play, hooker Ryan Hyde then darted over to level the scores.
In a blow to Brothers’ title hopes, they were forced to defend with 12 after a dangerous tackle saw one of their players sent to the sin bin three minutes before the end of regulation time.
At the end of 60 minutes and the scores locked at 12-all, extra time was needed.
Once again the defence from both sides was outstanding, with another try to Saua eventually proving the difference.
WINDSOR TOO STRONG
Before their home fans, Windsor kicked off grand final day in style when they downed Brothers 38-10 to claim the under-17s Tier B title.
From the third minute when second rower Dean Szyszka strolled across for the first of his two tries, the Wolves were never headed on the way to a 22-4 half time lead.
Alvan Beckett was one of several standouts for the Wolves. In a blistering first 12 minutes, the centre danced his way over to score in the left corner, before gapping the field with a solo effort along the grandstand touch line.
Zachary Reynolds paved the way for Brothers to score. The lock’s midfield bust was quickly followed up by Judah Jury, who crossed in the next play.
Szyszka bagged his second after the break as Windsor posted another three tries to one.
PHOTO GALLERY
First Grade: Emu Plains v Colyton
Reserve Grade: Windsor v Emu Plains
Under-19s: St Clair v Colyton
Under-17s: St Marys v Brothers
Under-17s-B: Windsor v Brothers
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