Live stream: Ipswich State High v Marsden State High, NRL Schoolgirls Cup SEQ final

After being buried beneath celebrating teammates, classy lock Shalom Sauaso emerged as the hero of Ipswich’s epic Schoolgirls Cup grand final success. Catch up on the REPLAY.

Ipswich SHS captain Shalom Sauaso scored the winning try seven seconds from fulltime to pip Marsden SHS 16-10 in NRL Schoolgirl Cup grand final classic.

No.13 Sauaso was buried beneath celebrating teammates after crossing from close range before she joined teammates in running to supporters where the entire side disappeared beneath an avalanche of emotion.

Ipswich’s joy was Marsden’s heartache in a game where no side deserved to lose.

It was like an old western shoot out on a Sunday afternoon as both teams went hammer and tongs at each other.

Ipswich SHS grabbed the Schoolgirls title on the last play.

You did not know where to look as bodies flew in all directions as girls thudded into tackles, ricocheted off each other before throwing the ball about.

It was entertainment plus.

Both teams shadowed each other like prized fighters, with the margin never growing to more than four points - that was until Shalom’s converted try at the end.

At 10-all inside the final 10 minutes, Marsden pounded the Ipswich line only to be repelled. It was a huge defensive effort by an Ipswich defensive line which would have been fatigued after earlier defending with 12 players following a sin-binning.

Then Ipswich came back fast and furious as the bout entered the final round 60 seconds.

Marsden’s performance was even more meritorious when you consider they were without their best player, Queensland halfback Lili Lewis.

PREVIEW

Ipswich State High are out to overcome the ghosts of last year’s shock grand final defeat in this year’s Queensland Schoolgirls Cup Pool A final.

Ipswich will clash with high-flying rivals Marsden State High in this year’s final, with the winner progressing to the Queensland state final on August 29.

The Pool A final will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV from 1.30pm, Wednesday, as part of our exclusive coverage of the southeast Queensland schools league finals.

Check out the schedule box below to find links to the other SEQ finals.

The past 12 months of heartache will weigh heavily on Ipswch on Wednesday after they gave up a 26-point halftime lead to Mabel Park in last year’s final.

Ipswich coach Alex Nicholson said the focus for his side this year would be to “enjoy the experience”.

“It is not every year you get into a grand final, and I know these girls got into a grand final last year, but this year is different for them,” Nicholson said.

“They are just happy to be given another chance.’’

“We had an enjoyable week (leading into this week’s showdown) and we will do what we do, which is put in all the effort areas, communicate with each other and stay positive.”

Nicholson said the difference between this season and last year was how player-driven the team was.

“We had a big goal this year from the start, that everything we do and achieve had to be driven by the players,” he said.

“The little one per cent effort areas, when our players signed up to it, it was them saying we don’t want a repeat of last season and let ourselves slip in the fragile parts of the game.

“That is stuff which had to come from them.

“We worked closely with our leadership team that was embedded in our team.’’

As a result Nicholson said he saw his leaders come to the fore in the semi-final win over Keebra Park which was something he wanted those players to be proud of.

The Ipswich side is littered with talent and halfback Shalom Sauaso, middle forward Orianna Clarke and outside back Mercedez Taulelei-Siala will be particularly potent given the trio has all played schoolgirls footy at a higher level.

For Marsden, Wednesday’s grand final provides an opportunity to return to the highs of 2022 where they were crowned Queensland champions.

Coach Shane Hammond noted increased squad depth of his group compared to years gone by, as well as Marsden’s continued improvement had been the driving force behind their run to the SEQ decider.

“Each game has been a little bit better than the one before which is what you want to see,” Hammond said.

He believes his side must be wary of Ipswich who have a “fantastic team”.

“They’ve got a really experienced and a very powerful forward pack, they’ve got both of their halves back so we expect that they’ll play with a lot of width compared to the last time that we played them,” he said.

“It’ll just be a team performance (for us), it’s really important that we work hard defensively and then take our opportunities.”

Marsden will be buoyed by the return of a key cog in five-eighth Evelyn Roberts, who had missed the semi-final after she had to travel to New Zealand for family reasons.

When the sides met earlier this season, Ipswich prevailed 28-16. On that day, failing to stick to the game plan brought Marsden undone.

“I was really proud of our girl’s resilience to get us back into the game,” Hammond said.

“At halftime it was even and then in the second half we went away from our game plan a little bit and played into the style that suited Ipswich, trying to bash through their middles and that’s where their strength is.

“Hopefully we learn from that and play into our strengths and not theirs.”

Originally published as Live stream: Ipswich State High v Marsden State High, NRL Schoolgirls Cup SEQ final