When Marcus Kaponga charged away for a long intercept try midway through the second half, the Werribee Bears knew they were heading back to the NRL Victoria first grade grand final for a third consecutive year.
To that point in the game, it was a real semi-final arm wrestle with Casey Warriors at Clearwood Drive Reserve on Saturday, but Kaponga’s quick thinking and speedy feet gave the Bears momentum to go on and win the game.
“It was toe-to-toe, both teams going at it,” Bears co-coach Brian George said.
“The momentum turned our way after that.
“There was about 20 minutes to go and it changed the game for us.”
Werribee ran out 18-point winners, but it was a margin that flattered them.
The game see-sawed throughout, as you would expect when the two powerhouses of Victoria rugby league were locking horns.
But the Bears finished the stronger, running in five tries, including two to Ben Tuiatua and one each to Kaponga, Troy Hanita-Paki and Redeem Saleupolu.
“Even though the score was high, it felt like it was a pretty tight game,” George said. “There’s not much difference between us and them.”
Hanita-Paki and Frank Vaaua were huge for Werribee.
Hanita-Paki marshalled the Bears around the field in a manner that belied his teenage years.
“He was controlling our team,” George said. “He linked the backs and the forwards together and kept us calm.”
Vaaua’s energy was a constant for the Bears as he refused to give the Warriors defenders a set to rest.
“He was hitting the advantage line, bending their forwards back and we were just capitalising off it,” George said.
Keeping Casey to just 10 points is no mean feat.
The Warriors averaged 43 points per game in the regular season and amassed a whopping 694 points all up – 190 more than the next best offence in the league.
A big reason for the Warriors limp offensive performance was Iosua Tauai and Eddie Aukino Hughes.
“They were both doing all the hard work in the middle,” George said. “The hard running, the hard tackling – they were our leaders going forward for our outside backs.
“They do all the ugly stuff in defence, putting their bodies on the line.”
Werribee will get the week off before the season decider to rest its sore bodies after a bruising semi-final.
While the Bears are the defending champions, grand final day will be a new experience for the vast majority.
“We’ve got about 12 new faces from last year,” George said. “Even though we’re the reigning champions from last year, it’s basically a new group, so it’s a new thing for most of us.”
