Dominant Rebels into grand fnal

an ineffectual tackle and dived over near the posts.

Nick McGrady converted to level the scores.

The Rebels dominated the game for the next 10 minutes and were rewarded when back rower Aiden Hyland crashed over.

While dominant on the scoreboard, the Rebels bench was in trouble with both starting props Lionel Johnson and Bailey Sinclair coming off injured inside the 20 minute mark.

The position worsened when young lock Nick Torrens also came off for treatment after receiving a knee in the back in a tackle.

Fortunately the Rebels were able to call on replacements of the calibre of Grant Stevens, who had a huge game with some important tackles and powerful ball carries.

The injuries did not seem to worry the Rebels attack, which pounced twice more in the last 15 minutes.

James Torrens notched his second try for the game, running a great angle to get on the outside of the defence and score near the left corner. McGrady slotted left wing. He passed inside and backed up to get the fnal pass which put him over in the corner.

The Roosters gave their supporters a glimmer of hope, scoring frst in the second half, when the Rebels allowed a high kick to bounce and lost the ball forward trying to clean up.

The Roosters got a try back minutes later, through and element of said the Rebels put together 30 minutes of top football in the frst half, but allowed some poor discipline into the game after that.

“But I’m not too worried about that now,” he said. “We’ve got through into the grand fnal and that’s what we aimed to do at the start of the game.”

He was worried about the number of injuries, but said he had taken a gamble during the game to keep his bench players on the feld.

“When we got so far in front, I decided not to risk the injured players,” he said. “We were lucky “Stump” (Stevens) was able to play so many minutes.

“It wasn’t in the plan, but he’s a player that can give you those big minutes, so it was why I decided to risk it.” the sideline conversion to make it 18-6. It was the Rebels defence that created the last try of the half. Desperately swinging the ball wide to beat the rapidly advancing Rebels defence, Roosters fve-eighth Nelson Langley’s pass hit the chest of Rebels centre Jye Boehme, who had time to look around to check his luck on a 50m sprint to the line, which fnished in a high dive into the in-goal.

South Grafton also enjoyed some luck in the fnal minutes of the half when a spectacular cross kick from Nambucca halfback Tyrone Roberts-Davis landed in the arms of a Nambucca attacker who touched down, only to fnd the referee ruled him in front of the kicker.

Gifted possession Nambucca back rower Brody Simon made the Rebels pay with a try, converted by RobertsDavis.

Ill-discipline cost the Roosters any chance of a comeback at around the 20-minute mark when Saunders was sin-binned for a ludicrous lifting tackle on winger Damon Kirby.

Defenders lifted Kirby, but seemingly let him down, to avoid injury, only for more defenders to join in and tip him over to land heavily.

He lay on the ground for a couple of minutes while the referee called out Nambucca players for a lecture before sending Saunders to the bin.

Minutes later Hyland skirted the defence and made a break down the luck as they attacked the Rebels’ line.

A poor pass to RobertsDavis put him under pressure, but when hit in a heavy tackle, the ball bounced into the hands of supporting Tyreece Sines, who scored wide out. Roberts-Davis failed to convert.

Inside the fnal fve minutes the Rebels were awarded a penalty close to the posts and skipper Keiron-Johnson Heron had no hesitation in getting McGrady to kick for goal. His successful kick made it 30-16.

But the Rebels had one more shot in their locker and mounted a last-minute attack on the Roosters tryline, which netted Boehme his second try of the game as the full time hooter sounded.

Coach Ron Gordon

He said the injuries would be assessed at training during the week. As he walked off the ground, Gordon’s mind had already switched to Sunday’s encounter with Woolgoolga at the Coffs Harbour International Sports Centre on Sunday. “We’ll have a different game plan for them,” he said. “Last time we didn’t follow the plan we had and it cost us.”

In the major semi-fnal the failure to make frst up tackles on powerhouse centres Shayde Perham and Sione Fangupo resulted in three tries.

Between them those two have scored 34 tries for the Seahorses this year. Restricting the amount of ball they receive cuts off one of Woolgoolga’s biggest threats.