St John's Blue defeats St John's Gold in Dubbo under 16s grand final

The St John's derby decider was as close as expected, with Blue scoring a 22-18 win over Gold to close the book on an engrossing rivalry which spanned many years.

The sides went try-for-try almost throughout the entire 60 minutes and a melee in the final seconds resulting in two sin-binnings added to the absorbing nature of the contest.

The bulk of the players have gone through the junior ranks with and against each other and the two sides finished the under 16s regular season with a near identical record.

Gold had scored a thrilling 21-20 win two weeks earlier in the major semi-final, but in the decider a strong all-round performance and a powerful forward pack helped Blue gain some revenge and take home the title.

"We spoke about all year, just creating that memory," St John's Blue coach Bernard Wilson said.

"They worked really hard all year and they're two really good footy sides.

"It (rivalry) is fantastic. It's great for them to develop as footballers, to have this competition, and they just ask questions of each other and it makes them better players and better people. They've got to work through a bit of adversity."

Wilson said the one-point semi-final loss didn't worry his side too much given the number of close matches the two sides have played out in recent years.

Gold coach Joe Williams said the same after Saturday's grand final and he had nothing but praise for both sets of players.

"These two teams, there's been six points that separated them for the last three years," he said.

"They're such a talented group. They get out there and they work hard and at the end of the day, we can't be winners all the time.

"It's one of those things that unfortunately we lost in the grand final."

With a forward pack led by player of the match and NSW Country prop Kapene Karaitiana, star fullback Rex Bassingthwaite constantly probing, and hooker Noah Sutcliffe and lock Darcy Haycock providing a real playmaking element alongside halves Alexander Maas and Nate Bayliss, Blue had threats all over the park.

They scored first through a darting run from the lively Sutcliffe but, as expected, Gold wasn't rattled.

A great offload from Jonah Moss put Luke O'Neill over to get Gold on the board and Williams' side had an advantage sooner after when a Blue player was sin-binned.

But it was Blue who crossed next after a scything run from Bassinthwaite but, yet again, Gold hit back and a Matari Kelly try cut the lead to 10-8 at the break.

The sides swapped tries again early in the second half through Reuben Jones and the impressive Gold five-eighth Jace Baker.

A crucial eight-minute period followed, with two tries for Blue all but sealing the result.

Yet again Blue went to its dangerous left edge and after the ball was put through the hands winger Bayley Matthews planted it down, and soon after a pinpoint Haycock kick was collected by centre Isaac Newstead and he dived over.

Gold got one back but it was just a consolation and after a late melee which came about after a few Blue players started celebrating too early, the real moment of joy arrived for the champions.

"These boys, while they got stuck into each other today, they'll probably all catch up with each other tonight. They're a good bunch of kids," Williams said, before speaking about his side.

"There's some boys that were upset and there's some tears and all that. It just means that you want it, it means that you love it.

"They're a great, great group of kids. A great group of humble young men and I couldn't be prouder of them."

As pleased as he was for his side, Wilson said the grand final was a great result for the St John's club and highlighted the individual talent seen across the park.

"Jace Baker was outstanding out there today for Gold and the same for Lukey O'Neill and Joe Edwards," he said.

"Same for us. Rex 'Bass' and big 'Karps' (Karaitiana) and Nate Bayliss was really good too."

The win for Blue came after Sutcliffe and Haycock had earlier been named joint winners of the Jai Dunn Memorial Trophy for DDJRL International Player of the Year.

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