Yabbies pumped for grand final

Coming off three straight wins with no points scored against them in those games, the boys ran out onto the field visibly fired up and determined. Not only to win the semi and make it to the grand final, but also to keep the score against them to nil.

As they have in previous weeks, the boys came out firing from the kick-off. Young’s scoring was opened by a great try to Jordan Noakes after three minutes of play. This was followed by tries to Tom Cummins, two to James Schiller and a fantastic 60 metre runaway try to James Ferguson just before half-time. 

The score at the break was 29-nil.

Although in front, the boys knew that Marist would come out hard in the second half, and come out hard they did, helped by a massive penalty count against the Yabbies.

However the boys shut down every Marist attack with brutal defence and inevitably stole the ball at the breakdown and went on the attack themselves.

The Yabbies scored another two tries in the second half through Nick Maloney and Frazer Ryder, both of which were converted. 

The full-time score was 43-nil.

The boys have played some fantastic rugby throughout the year, particularly in the previous three weeks, but the way they played on Saturday took the standard to new heights.

The Yabbies played every minute of the game with enormous passion and an utter determination to win.

They continually cut the Marist defence to pieces in attack, backed each other up and scored some brilliant tries.

They were superb at the breakdown. Retaining all of their own ball and stealing plenty from Marist.

The Yabbies defence was brutal. Every boy tackled their heart out and as the game wore on, the Marist boys were becoming visibly reluctant to run at our defensive line.

Late in the game when their numbers were reduced to 13 due to a couple of extraordinarily dubious red cards being handed out by the referee and Marist were camped on the Yabbies try-line, the cry of "no tries" could be heard from our boys as they held off attack after attack.

Perhaps the greatest compliment for the boys was from a mother of one of the Marist boys who after the game said that when saw the way the Yabbies ran onto the field at the start of the game, and saw the look on their faces, she knew that Marist were going to lose.

Picking best and fairest points in a game where every boy has played exceptionally well is very difficult, but three points went to Paddy Fahey, two points went to Janama Lambshead and James Schiller and Milo Dowling received one for a superb defensive effort.

The Yabbies next challenge is the grand final to be played at Viking Park at 10.20am on Sunday, September 4. Vikings have lost only one game from 11 played this season and will be very tough to beat.

For this group of boys to make the grand final in the immensely tough Canberra comp on their first year in, is a massive achievement and every boy should feel extremely proud of themselves.

The Young Yabbies Under 18s kicked off their 2016 season on May 7 with a tough assignment in front of them.

Having finished their first year (2015) in the Canberra competition in fifth place in Division 2, the powers that be decided they'd seen enough to confirm Young would be the side to start 2016 as the seventh team in Division 1.

Whichever of the seven teams that finished bottom at the half way point of the season would have the reprieve of relegation to Division 2 with their win/loss percentage in the second half of the season deciding their place in the table.

Let's not forget the challenge ahead.

Playing the first 15 of Canberra Vikings and Royals, the two biggest clubs in the ACT and school sides like St Edmund’s and Canberra Grammar with extensive rugby programs. 

The first game saw the boys go down to Royals 39-10. Probably showed them too much respect.

Grammar next. A loss of 55-22, a huge effort by everyone.

Then came Vikings, a 73-nil loss. A few heads were starting to drop.

Marist College grabbed a 34-7 win, but that left Young with a few key players injured or on rep duty going in to our final two games against the two toughest teams.

St Edmund’s beat a depleted Yabbies 93-nil. Daramallen won 74-nil. The midway point had been reached. Time for a couple of weeks off, a regroup, and an injection of belief and enthusiasm.

Game one in Division 2 saw a win over Vikings, 32-10. Next up Radford College, Division 2 grand finalists for the last four years. Young went down 34-12, playing in bog. Not a day for free flowing rugby.

Then Broulee Dolphins, a club similar in size to Young a good yardstick to judge our improvement on last year. A 71-14 win confirmed we were heading in the right direction.

A win over Grammar Seconds 48-21 and Daramallen Seconds 39-5 secured the Yabbies second spot on the ladder and a semi-final match up with Radford. What a mighty effort the boys made. From being 10-nil down they battled hard to achieve a 17-15 win and set up a grand final on Sunday against St Edmund’s Second 15. 

Rugby is the epitome of team sport. Success is not possible without the effort of everybody, and that includes the guys on the bench who run on in the heat of battle and have to adjust to the pace and intensity straight away. Never easy.

For this reason I'll name the players without their number, but as a playing group.