A total of 805 participants from 47 teams participated in 87 games of Rugby League at the 2016 Harmony Cup on Saturday - a celebration of culture, diversity and The Greatest Game Of All.
The annual fixture, hosted at St Marys, was the biggest one yet, with an under-16s girls division staged for the first time. Samoa won that inaugural competition, in an emotional extra-time victory over Western Sydney Indigenous which will stick in the memory of spectators forever.
Italy proved to be a surprise packet in the under-18s men's division, progressing all the way to the final for the first time. They were eventually defeated by Fiji in the decider, who had been a standout throughout the pool stage. The Victorian Marvels also took out their maiden title in the Opens Women's division, with a large number of supporters travelling from the southern state to see their team defeat the Cook Islands 22-14.
The final match of the day was the under-16s boys' decider, where Western Sydney came from behind to defeat Samoa in a thrilling encounter. Western Sydney captain Mitchell Dodds was a standout in that game as his side capped off another successful installment of the Harmony Cup.
