NSW U16's salute at Etihad Stadium
NSWRL MEDIA
23/05/2012 11:35:30 PM
The New South Wales Under 16 representative side has continued the states excellent run in the junior fixtures in recent years by defeating their Queensland counterparts at Etihad Stadium earlier tonight 30-16.
A fourteen point margin was certainly not reflective of the toughness of the encounter however with the Queensland boys taking it right up to our boys in blue.
The night started well for New South Wales when
Alex Twal (Parramatta Eels) ran onto a lovely short ball by Travis Edwards (Newcastle Knights) and crashed over underneath the posts to see the side lead 6-0 after ten minutes, however a short time later we were all square again as Cooper Bambling sliced through the New South Wales defence to score for Queensland.
Unfortunately for Bambling, he was injured during the try and had to leave the field, and although he returned later on, his impact on the match was nowhere near as big as it was prior to the injury.
But despite the loss of their halfback, Queensland took the lead in the 18th minute as Fatafehi scored for the boys from north of the border, but their lead was short lived as the scores were level once again after a brilliant effort by Travis Edwards (Newcastle Knights) saw him score underneath the posts.
The next ten minutes were a real arm wrestle, and just when we looked certain to head to the sheds locked up at 12-12 Tevita Pangai (Newcastle Knights) put his stamp of authority on proceedings with a devastating run on the right hand edge which lead to him crossing the stripe despite the attention of several maroon jerseys.
When Travis Edwards (Newcastle Knights) conversion attempt hit the upright and refused to go over the scoreboard read 16-12 in favour of New South Wales.
Despite heading back out with the message of a good start to the half ringing in the ears of the players, it was the Queensland side that put points on the board first, however it was to be their last.
New South Wales scored in the 40th minute after Tevita Pangai (Newcastle Knights) threw a lovely ball to David Sheridan (CRL) who was able to get low and burrow his way over from close range.
And then in the 48th minute Robert Jennings (Penrith Panthers) appeared to have been denied a try by some stout goal line defence by Queensland however he was ruled not to have been held and was allowed to get back to his feet and step his way over the line for New South Wales 5th try of the evening.
Now with the score reading 24-16 and less than ten minutes to play, New South Wales were under immense pressure at their defensive end of the park, but set after set they held on, and then finally in the 58th minute
Dillon Khoury (Parramatta Eels) capped off a well deserved win by scoring New South Wales 6th try of the night.
Tevita Pangai (Newcastle Knights) was awarded the Players Player award following the game yet Coach David Howlett reinforced how well his side played as a team.
Tevita was brilliant tonight and lead the way with some great skill execution and also some roar power however New South Wales didnt have a bad player on that park tonight, Howlett said.
We asked all of these players to do a job when they came into camp and not one of them let anyone down, I could not be any prouder of them than I am right now.
Having now won the last three Under 16 encounters and six of the last seven, the future is looking bright for Rugby League in the great state of New South Wales.
Click here to check out a heap of photo galleries from the boys time in camp
New South Wales U16s 30 (D Khoury, R Jennings, D Sheridan, T Edwards, A Twal, T Pangai tries; J Hastings 3 goals) def.
Queensland U16s 16 (S Smith, S Fatafehi, C Bambling tries; S Bobbert 2 goals).
