Queanbeyan Kangaroos storm in grand final contention THERE are many words that could be used to describe the Queanbeyan Kangaroos’ run to this year’s Canberra Raiders Cup semi-finals: remarkable, unexpected, nerve-wracking, even lucky at times.
Easy however, is not one of them. Over the past six weeks, the Kangaroos have fought their way back from the verge of premiership irrelevancy and now stand as a genuine title threat.
It’s a far cry from round 11, when the Roos went down 32-16 to cross-town rivals the Queanbeyan Blues as the side slumped to its fifth loss in six weeks.
Despite the result, Kangaroos captain Aaron Gorrell said at the time he’d seen enough from his troops in the derby defeat to suggest a change of fortunes was around the corner.
Since then, Gorrell’s optimism has been borne out on the paddock where the Roos have reversed their early season form to win five of their past six matches to storm into the finals.
Of those victories, none was quite so dramatic as the side’s 34-28 win over the Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Greenway last weekend.
Heading into the competition’s final round, the equation for the Kangaroos was simple. Emerge triumphant by five points or more and a finals spot was theirs, anything less and they could begin booking their tickets to Bali.
But with just seconds to play, the Roos held an insufficient two-point buffer with the Bushrangers camped on the visitor’s goal line. It appeared as though the club’s championship defence was over.
That was when luck played its part as a loose Tuggeranong pass landed at the feet of Queanbeyan flyer Travis Robinson.
Acting on instinct, Robinson toed the ball ahead twice before hooker Jordan Macey loomed up in support to pick up the scraps and cross for the most important try of the Kangaroos' season.
The four points were enough to book the Roos a spot in this Sunday’s elimination semi-final against Goulburn at Seiffert Oval.
Winger Peter Hunt said the side couldn’t have written a better script to finish the year.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better preparation, if we’d happened to just scrape through to the finals we might have been a bit flat but without getting too cocky, I think we’re a big chance,” he said.
“We should’ve done Goulburn last time we played them (in round 17), I think we beat ourselves with our own ill-discipline so I’m very confident.”
Source: queanbeyanage.com.au
Topic: Queanbeyan Kangaroos storm in grand final contention
