St Marys Saints have put the exclamation mark on a stellar season after holding on for a 32-26 win against a spirited Mounties in the Sydney Shield Grand Final at Campbelltown Stadium today.
Saints went into the match as favourites after going through the regular season undefeated but had to dig deep after trailing 16-6 early in the first half before surviving a late comeback from Mounties with less than 10 minutes to go.
“It wasn’t easy today, it could have gone either way,” Saints coach Brad Drew said.
“We’re obviously happy with the win. We train hard all year like every team, and I think the two best sides were in the game today and it could have gone either way.
“It was a great Grand Final. It was a nailbiter and everyone was on the edge of their seats, but we’ll take the win today.”
Saints five-eighth Fred Peters was named Player of the Match after a strong performance, including a try he helped set up in the first half just when Saints needed him too.
Mounties had come out of the blocks firing and had surged to a 16-6 lead before Peters put replacement Josiah Vaha’akolo into a hole on the halfway line.
Vaha’akolo accelerated upfield before picking up centre Matthew Curl in support who made a beeline to the corner to score. Brown landed the sideline conversion to keep Saints in touch at 16-12.
They went on with the job from there and looked to be in complete control late in the second half at 30-16 before Mounties scored two tries within five minutes to reduce the margin to 30-26.
Saints landed a late penalty goal after Mounties prop William Zammit was sent to the sin bin – Peters would join him in the sin bin before the match was over – before muscling up in defence to hang on for the win.
It was the club’s third premiership, and their first title since 2022, and capped a remarkable season which saw them finish undefeated after 16 games of the regular season and two finals appearances.
“It is special (to go undefeated) considering every club does it at Shield level, they use a lot of players throughout the year,” Drew said.
“I’m just really proud of every player we’ve brought up throughout the season who’s really stood up and lifted.
“There’s some young guys still learning but they’ve all come up and done a great job for us.”
Both teams struggled to get into a rhythm in the opening 10 minutes that was punctuated by penalties and handling errors.
A lost ball from Saints handed possession to Mounties on halfway and they took advantage after working the ball upfield before hooker Tevita Petelo fooled the goal-line defence with a show and go and then crashed over the line. Winger Tyrone Tsagalias landed the conversion for a 6-0 lead.
A spilled bomb from Saints fullback Riley Barglik proved costly when Mounties halfback Mitchell Chester picked up back-rower Tyrese Fuatimau who wheeled around through the goal-line defence to score. Tsagalias landed the conversion to extend their lead to 12-0.
A Mounties error from the kick-off provided Saints with their first genuine scoring opportunity and Barglik redeemed himself after finding a hole in the goal-line defence to zip through it and score. Winger Tallis Brown converted to reduce the deficit to 12-6.
Mounties seized the advantage again after Chester put up a bomb that was knocked backwards by Tsagalias for replacement Jack Burgess, who showed great skill to kick ahead for himself, regather and touch down for a 16-6 lead.
After Curl scored to reduce the margin to 16-12, Saints closed the gap even further just before half-time when halfback Tylor Bunting put a kick through that was regathered by Vaha’akolo to score. Brown landed the conversion to send Saints into the break leading for the first time in the match18-16.
Back-to-back penalties for Saints when play resumed had them on the attack again and Bunting showed great strength to overcome the attention of four defenders to plant the ball down over the line. Brown converted to give Saints some breathing space at 24-16.
Saints had one hand on the trophy when Barglik tapped a ball on for Curl, who swung around out of a tackle and offloaded to Brown to speed down the sideline before improving his position to score. He converted his own try to have Saints in control 30-16.
Mounties needed to score next to keep their chances alive and they did just that after Petelo picked up prop Zammit showed great will to crash over the line and score. Tsagalias landed the conversion to reduce the margin to 30-22.
The comeback continued on the back of a break upfield from Burgess before five-eighth Tykan Gill looped a ball over the top for Mohammed to sprint down the sideline and somersault over the line and plant the ball down. Tsagalias took a quick conversion, but it sailed across the face of goal to leave the score at 30-26.
Brown landed the penalty goal to push the margin back out to a converted try at 32-26 which was enough to seal the result and spark celebrations at full-time.
