The Yass Magpies have fallen short of George Tooke Shield glory, losing 28-12 to Bungendore in the competition’s decider.
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Yass was in a rare spell of form going into the game, having won its last six on the trot, but the Tigers were never going to be an easy obstacle to overcome.
Bungendore started off strongly and was the better side from the outset, muscling up in defence and playing expansively in attack.
The Tigers also had the homeground advantage on Saturday, but Yass captain-coach Brad Wylie said there were other reasons why his side went down.
“We just couldn’t get any field position in the first half and they quickly scored three tries and that made it 14-0,” he told the Tribune earlier this week.
Yass then crossed twice late in the half through Alex Waters and Shaun Davis. It was Waters’ first try of the year and Davis converted both to make it 14-12 at the break.
“We had just missed out on scoring a third as well, so everyone was pretty confident at that point,” Wylie said.
“Everyone knew their job so the mood at halftime was pretty good really. The markers were being a bit lazy so we talked about that and we just needed to hold onto the ball.”
Unfortunately for Yass, disaster struck off the kick-off and a dropped ball immediately gifted possession to Bungendore.
The hosts crossed three tackles later and Yass immediately fell behind the eight ball.
“After they scored after the halftime break it was actually pretty close for a big chunk of the second half,” Wylie added
“They didn’t really score two tries until later on in the half, then they got the better of us really.”
He said Bungendore were “too big and strong” for most of the game and definitely the better team on the day, and his players were disappointed with their performance.
“It wasn’t one of our better games, it’s just a shame we turned that performance in on the grand final.”
Despite the fact his side struggled for numbers at times in 2015, Wylie said he had enjoyed his first year as captain-coach.
“It’s a good job, I enjoyed it and it’s been a good year really, in regards to where we ended up, I think to get to that point was a pretty good effort from the boys.”
Despite going down, the players enjoyed a few days of celebrating, recognising a solid year in the George Tooke Shield.
It remains to be seen whether the Yass Magpies Rugby League Football Club will manage to field a Canberra Raiders Cup side in 2016.
