Recap

Reds falter at the final hurdle in premiership loss to Owls

By Chris Gordon

It was a case of history repeating for the Goulburn Dirty Reds in their ACT First division, First grade grand final at Tuggeranong on Saturday.

On the same ground on which they lost last year’s grand final, although against a different side, Goulburn lost by 21-7 to an energised Uni-Norths Owls.

It was a particularly bitter pill for the Reds to come home empty-handed from their second successive grand final in two years, just a week after the Goulburn women’s team lost their match and with the experienced trio of Mikael Webber, Jackson Reardon and Ben Todkill likely to retire.

Uni-Norths had beaten Goulburn two games to one in the season proper, one of those games by just three points, and the Goulburn players knew it was well within their capacity to beat Uni-Norths.

But the Owls were fired up and insistent on the day. Helping them indirectly was a large and vocal band of Owls supporters outnumbering Goulburn fans by something like 10-1, urging their side towards their first men’s premiership in any grade for many years. And their players didn’t disappoint them.

The Owls received first possession and instantly looked good in the set pieces, stealing Goulburn’s first line out. Goulburn began infringing early and the weight of possession allowed the Owls to have a few tilts at the Goulburn line. Goulburn drove the Owls player into touch on the first of those five minutes in but two minutes later the Owls, swinging the ball wide from the back of a lineout, weren’t to be denied.

The Owls second try wasn’t as hard earned as the first, scored against the run of play. Twenty-three minutes into the game, and after several phases in their opposition’s quarter, Goulburn was in a prime position to score. Following several promising phases, Goulburn won a scrum about 20m out and with the ref’s hand raised indicating advantage to Goulburn, a Uni-Norths player intercepted a short pass from a Goulburn player and ran the length of the field to score.

The turn-around from what seemed like a chance to equalize the scores to a 14-0 deficit was a gut punch to Goulburn but the Owls were unable to add to that lead before the break. Goulburn had the better of territory for that last 10 minutes in the first half but could not capitalise on it.

Coming from the break, it was imperative to score first to keep in touch, but that wasn’t to be. Building on that theme of history repeating the Owls scored in the 7th minute of the second half as they had in the first, and while not an intercept pass like their second, it came from a fortuitous bounce from a chip ahead, putting Uni-Norths up 21-0 with 28 minutes remaining.

But even three tries down, Goulburn never threw in the towel. Battling for possession and field position, Goulburn replied in the fifty third minute, Ben Todkill received the ball from the scrumbase and provided a neat inside pass to Eric Brown, which when converted by Mikael Webber reduced the lead to 21-7.

Goulburn continued to throw themselves into the game enthusiastically, but Uni-Norths were equally determined and repelled all likely attacking sorties for the win. While there was a bit of bragging-rights niggle from the now certain to win Owls at the end, it was a good-natured game throughout, well refereed and the Owls deserving winners.

This wasn’t Goulburn’s best game of the year by a long shot. While the effort was there, decisions, application and ball security could all have been better. Having said that, even with the 14 point difference in scores, it was a try each in the second half and if you take out the lucky intercept and the lucky bounce from a kick ahead… well there wouldn’t have been much in it. But you make your own luck and then you have to capitalise on it, and the Owls did that superbly.

There were many great performances across the paddock for Goulburn but the standout for me was Will Mooney in a magnificent captain’s knock. With Alec Palmer out injured until probably mid-2024, the (c) looks very good alongside Mooney’s name.  It’s believed that Mikael Webber, Jackson Reardon and Ben Todkill have now hung up their boots. Selfishly, the club hopes the loss may leave them with some fire in the belly and a sense of unfinished business to revisit.

And while Grand Finals finish with a binary result, you win or you lose, seasons provide a whole lot more subtext and nuance. A full season of games, a full season of training, provides a lot of memories, growth and bonding. Many new faces have come to the fore, many personal goals have been achieved, and the season was far from a loss.

Special congrats to coach John Maxwell for taking the side all the way in his first year with the club. His passion and knowledge have been great appreciated. Thanks also to all of the players, the support staff, the committee, the sponsors (especially the Hibo), the supporters and family members who have allowed grown men and women to run around each week with the wind in their hair (for those who have hair – looking at you Rob Sheekey) having the time of their lives.

That’s a wrap for season 2023. Wait ‘til you get a load of 2024!

Photos by Pete Oliver

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Photos by Chris Gordon

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By the clock:

7 mins – Uni-Norths conv try (0-7)
24 mins – Uni-Norths conv try (0-14)

42 mins – Uni-Norths try (0-21)
54 mins – Eric Brown try, Mikael Webber conv (7-21)