September 2, 2022
The Murgon Mustangs and Wondai Wolves have their last chance on Saturday to earn a spot in the 2022 South Burnett A Grade rugby league Grand Final.
The sudden-death Preliminary Final will be played at T.J. O’Neill Oval in Kingaroy from 2:30pm.
The winner will then go head-to-head against minor premiers the Nanango Stags – who will be rested after a week off – in the Grand Final which will be played on September 10 at Murgon Showgrounds.
It will be an historic day for Wolves’ fans who have been waiting seven years for their team to earn a spot in the Finals.
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Nanango earned their Grand Final spot after a 24-18 win over Murgon at Wondai last Saturday.
The Mustangs put on 18 points during the first 20 minutes, and at half-time led 18-6.
But the Stags came charging out of the blocks in the second half, attacking the Murgon line and stopping the Mustangs in their tracks.
Incredibly, Murgon failed to add to their tally in the last 40 minutes while Nanango put on tries by Ashley Smallwood and Jackson Mladenovic.
With the scores level 18-all and just 10 minutes left on the clock, the game looked like it could go into extra time.
But then Stags (and former Timbertowners) veteran Blake Harvey crossed the line to break the deadlock.
Jakeb Mead’s successful conversion then sealed the deal for Nanango.
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Wondai earned its place in the A Grade Preliminary Final by downing the Kingaroy Red Ants 38-34, also at Wondai last Saturday.
At half-time, Wondai led 18-12 after a see-sawing first 40 minutes.
The armwrestle continued in the second half, with the scores going from 24-all to 30-all and then 34-all at full-time.
Keith Gadd Jnr broke the deadlock with a try from a set play in extra time, giving Wondai a 38-34 lead.
The Wolves then managed to defend grimly for the next five minutes to hold on to their slim margin, securing the Preliminary Final game against Murgon.
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The SBRL Under 14s Preliminary Final will be played at 1:20pm at T.J. O’Neill Oval between minor premiers Murgon and Chinchilla.
The winner of this game will meet Nanango in the Grand Final at Murgon next weekend.
The Bulldogs earned their spot in the Preliminary Final after downing Kingaroy 36-10 in the Minor Semi-Final played last Saturday at Wondai, while the Mustangs battled Nanango in a tense Major Semi-Final, eventually going down 14-10 in extra time.
At half-time, the Stags led 6-0 but when the full-time siren sounded the scores were locked at 10-all.
Five minutes were played each way but the scores remained locked which meant both teams had to play for a golden try.
A few sets were traded before Nanango were able to make their way down field and create some pressure. Ryan Wallace crashed over under the posts for his second try of the day to send the Stags through to the Under 14s Grand Final.
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August 27 Results
- Under 14s – Nanango 14 def. Murgon 10 (Major Semi-Final)
- Under 14s – Chinchilla 36 def. Kingaroy 10 (Minor Semi-Final)
- Under 15s – Toowoomba 30 def. South Burnett Eagles 26
- Under 16s – Toowoomba 34 def. South Burnett Eagles 14
- A Grade – Nanango 24 def. Murgon 18 (Major Semi-Final)
- A Grade – Wondai 38 def. Kingaroy 34 (Minor Semi-Final)
August 20 Results
- Under 14s – Chinchilla 30 def Kingaroy 6
- Under 15s – South Burnett Eagles 46 def Gatton 16
- Under 16s – Gatton 36 def South Burnett Eagles 4
- Under 17s – South Burnett Eagles 42 def Gatton 16
- A Grade – Murgon v Kingaroy – no score available
- A Grade – Wondai 26 def. Cherbourg 24
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This Weekend’s Games
At Kingaroy:
- 1:20pm – Under 14s – Murgon v Chinchilla (Preliminary Semi-Final)
- 2:30pm – A Grade – Murgon v Wondai (Preliminary Semi-Final)
At Pittsworth:
- 2:00pm – Under 15s – South Burnett Eagles v Toowoomba (Minor Semi-Final)
- 4:20pm – Under 17s – South Burnett Eagles v Highfields (Minor Semi-Final)
