Dewar Shield: Melbourne’s persistence pays off in grand final win
By James Wong
Melbourne have defeated three time defending champions Harlequins 20-19 to win the Dewar Shield grand final.
Persistence paid off for the Unicorns as they pulled back a 6-19 deficit at half time to finally beat Harlequins after failing to do so in their first three meetings.
A late try and a pressure conversion by fullback Rian Oliver sealed the Unicorns' first title since 2011 and ended Harlequins’ three-year reign at the top
Melbourne got on the board first with a penalty in the 4th minute but the rest of the first half was all Harlequins. The defending champions dominated the tackle area with some punishing defence that left more than one Melbourne player slow to get up after a tackle.
Harlequins scored their first try in the 8th minute. An impressive series of phases saw them shift play backwards and forwards across the field before a hard running Lloyd Johansson took the ball to the line and put centre Oliva Sialau into the gap.
Melbourne had plenty of ball