Five-eighth Tobias Rowlatt starred as Port City Breakers under-10s kept their unbeaten streak alive with a comfortable 22-6 Group 3 Junior Rugby League grand final win over Port Sharks on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Rowlatt crossed for a double while Eli O'Bryan and Jack Lacey also scored four-pointers while the Sharks only points of the match came courtesy of a second-half try to Noah Joyce.
The Breakers haven't lost a game in four years of junior footy and at half-time the game was as good as over after they jumped out to a 16-0 lead.
Coach Dave Lacey said their winning streak had been built on the back of near impenetrable defence.
They conceded 76 points in nine regular season games at an average of just 8.4 points a game before they conceded just 18 more in two finals matches on the way to the premiership.
"The boys defended really well and that won us the game; they completed their sets and were very disciplined," Lacey said.
They had the best for and against from under-10s through to under-16s as well which was a great achievement.
- Port City Breakers under-10 coach Dave Lacey
"They had the best for and against from under-10s through to under-16s as well which was a great achievement."
Lacey said Rowlatt had been one of their stronger performers throughout the entire season.
"Tobias always defends really well and he took the opportunity to make a break and he ran 60 metres to score the first try of the game on Saturday," he said.
Sharks coach Josh Mann admitted the Breakers had been the best side all year and deserved their victory.
"We played them earlier in the year and it was a similar result so we knew we had to try to find something in attack because they've got really good defence," he said.
"Unfortunately it was too good and we couldn't come up with the tries we needed.
"The result was probably to be expected."
Mann conceded his side had given themselves too much work to do in the second half when they faced a 16-point deficit.
I'm really proud of our guys to even be able to get in the grand final, but they took a lot out of it and loved the experience of playing on the big field.
- Port Sharks under-10 coach Josh Mann
"Trying to play catch-up against a side like them is always going to be hard," he said.
"But they didn't let the score blow out."
The Sharks struggled for numbers all year and still finished the regular season in second spot with their only defeat of the season coming against the Breakers.
"We played a lot of our games one short or with the bare 11 on the field with no subs," Mann said.
"I'm really proud of our guys to even be able to get in the grand final, but they took a lot out of it and loved the experience of playing on the big field."
What else is happening in sport?
Thank you for valuing local journalism with your subscription. While you're with us, you can also receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.