Recap

Reserve grade finishes season with loss to competition leaders

By CHRIS GORDON

A tough season finished with a tough final round for the Goulburn Dirty Reds reserve grade side, losing to competition leaders Queanbeyan Whites by 46-10.

The match provided a pretty accurate snapshot of the last few weeks for the Dirty Twos …  a large injury toll, powerful opposition, some technical issues and a really gutsy application to the job.

One thing that was different from a lot of recent games is that the Whites team was not stacked by higher grade players. This was a bona fide ACT First Division Second Grade side, just a very bloody good one.

The slick and experienced Queanbeyan outfit, who’ve only lost one game all year, utterly deserved the win and showed just why they are minor premiers but Goulburn didn’t give up the game at any point. 

Across the paddock Goulburn players kept picking themselves off the ground and throwing themselves back at their opponents. Players like James Umu, playing on one good leg and another heavily strapped, and Justin Benn, whose back is starting to resemble a Jenga tower with a few bits missing, showed a ton of guts barging into the Queanbeyan line over and over again while the whole team through themselves at committed, and effective, defence.

It took the Whites only 3 minutes to get on the board, and in truth they could probably have scored every three minutes if not for the resistance offered by the Reds.

By half-time, Queanbeyan had scored four tries to one with Connor Minehan crossing for the Reds, and that template was repeated in the second half with four more to Queanbeyan and one to Cooper Camden-Smith for Goulburn.

The longest break between tries for Queanbeyan was between their second last and last, an indication that Goulburn stood up until the very end.

No excuses… Queanbeyan were just too big and too good (containing former Canberra raider Noa Nadruku no less and a former Dirty Red, Eirene Apineru) but there has been a lot to like about the Dirty Twos this year.

Many of the side played their first year of senior rugby, and some had never played rugby at all. The side had a bunch of solid wins against very competitive sides, and many of their losses were by short margins. It was a disjointed season also for the side with a number of Canberra teams finding the one hour drive to Goulburn too much and forfeiting, but the team stuck to the task throughout.

Congratulations to coach Dave Anable, Manager Beck Rudd, strappers and medicos Anthony White and Michelle Cooke, best in the biz hydrologist Geoff Shepherd and all of the crew that kept the Dirty Twos in action this year.

Their season is now over but they can expect to be a more competitive entity next season, and many will assist first grade both on the bench and at training through their finals journey. 

Best and fairest players were Connor Minehan (3), James Umu (2), Meki Masunu (1) and Josh Metz (1) with Minehan also named Players’ Player.

Queanbeyan Whites 46 (Tamalemai 2, Marmont, McInnes, Darmody, Muller, Sutcliffe, Apineru tries, Finau 3 conversions) bt Goulburn 10 (Connor Minehan, Cooper Camden Smith tries).

By the clock:

3 mins – Queanbeyan try (0-5)
15 mins – Queanbeyan try (0-10)
18 mins – Connor Minehan try (5-10)
27 mins – Queanbeyan try (5-15)
31 mins – Queanbeyan converted try (5-22)
HALF TIME
36 mins – Queanbeyan converted try (5-29)
38 mins – Queanbeyan converted try (5-36)
41 mins – Cooper Camden-Smith try (10-36)
50 mins – Queanbeyan try (10-41)
63 mins – Queanbeyan try (10-46)

Photos: Chris Gordon