by Paul Cook –

**********************

THE WARM-UP:

**********************

The only decider to pit the best two teams in their relevant competition across the season was the Shute Shield. Manly and Eastwood had fought tooth and nail for top spot with the Marlins finally defending their Minor Premiership by a mere three points off the back of one less defeat than the Woodies. A form guide between the two was hard to get a read on, with both having smashed the other in their regular season clashes – Manly by 41-18 in round nine and Eastwood returning serve 43-16 in round 13.

Manly’s impressive dispatching of Sydney University the week before had earned them their first appearance on the final day since 1997, when, ironically, the team they beat to lift their last Shute Shield title was Eastwood. The challenge for them was to ensure that the breaking of that particular hoodoo wasn’t sufficient reward in itself. For the Woodies, their defeat of Souths in the semi-final was another step in the right direction towards their very best after some indifferent form towards the end of the regular season. A fourth Grand Final in five years meant they weren’t about to suffer from stage fright, and with the match doubling as a send-off for club legends Hugh Perrett and Ben Batger, there was an even greater incentive to come away with the spoils.

**********************

THE BREAKDOWN:

**********************

If Manly had any nerves as they finally kicked-off in the big one, they were barely visible as they settled first and racked up two penalties from skipper, Matt Lucas. The Marlins continued to control proceedings for the first 25 minutes, taking advantage of a stiff breeze to pin Eastwood in their own 22 with exits a lottery. Their only crime perhaps, was that they failed to capitalise even further on their ascendancy, and when Ben Batger struck 3pts for Eastwood, momentum slowly began to swing the way of the Premiers.

A Lucas penalty a minute before the break ensured that Manly went to the sheds with a well deserved lead but with the knowledge that they would be facing the breeze in the second half. Sure enough, the Woodies soon adopted the same tactics after the restart, pressured and two penalties from Batger had them level with half an hour to play.

Lucas struck a fourth penalty to restore Manly’s lead from a rare incursion into enemy territory on the hour but Batger levelled again and with 15 minutes remaining, it was seemingly anyone’s game. Batger passed up the chance to finish as the hero, somehow skewing a penalty from in front in the 76th minute, but before anyone had had time to consider the impact of the miss, up stepped Jai Ayoub to slot a field goal from 40 metres and take the famous shield back to TG Millner for a second successive year.

**********************

THE WASH-UP:

**********************

Having steered his side to a third Premiership in five years, Eastwood head coach John Manenti bore the manner of a contented man at full-time.

“It feels pretty good,” he confirmed to Rugby News. “It was maybe the hardest, maybe with a less likely group of guys because 2011 was an outstanding group, most of whom are now playing professional rugby. There were two blokes who started today in Batger and Perrett who were part of that team and Marty Plokstys who came off the bench on that day – three guys – so we’ve been through the revolving door since then. But we’ve got blokes that have stood up all season and stood up again when it mattered today.

“If you’d told me three weeks ago that we were going to win the comp I wouldn’t have believed you because I thought there was a big risk that we’d potentially lose a couple of games on the bounce the way we finished the season. But we managed to find a bit of something in the last round against Warringah – it wasn’t outstanding but it was bits and pieces of something – and that gave us something to ride home on a week later against the same team. We got better last week against Souths and I don’t know if we were better or not today but it was an unbelievable contest.

“Manly were courageous and threw a lot at us but they only had a six point lead from that opening period so I wasn’t too stressed at half-time,” he revealed. “What we didn’t need was for them to come out and score first after the break but we got a few penalties to get back in it, probably had the better of the second half and worked on our discipline and we didn’t give much away.

“We knew it was going to be close, we’ve been training for field goals because I just thought that they may become a part of the game, I never thought we’d run away with these blokes today, no way. We had the advantage, Jai had a free crack and he nailed it. I was already making the decision who was taking the penalty because I wasn’t sure that Ben Batger wanted to take it after the previous one! I’m glad I didn’t have to make it.”

The Two Hugh’s: Hugh Perrett leads by example as Hugh Roach – arguably best on ground – lends a hand – Photo: J.B Photography

Retiring skipper Hugh Perrett conceded that the game may not have hit the heights as an attacking spectacle, but rightly so, wasn’t about to apologise for that.

“It was maybe boring and probably not a great spectacle but we did what we needed to do to win,” he said. “I was happy at half-time because we’d defended well and we knew it was really hard to get out of that end and the second half told that story a bit when we started to dominate and had more territory. It’s not even about point-scoring when you’re 12-all, it’s about territory. When we beat Uni in 2011 and it went into extra-time it was all about territory and it’s another beast when you play a Grand Final, it’s not like any other game.

“It’s not the first time Jai’s done that for us this year but we had the advantage and we played smart in the lead-up to that drop goal. We had experience and we had guys putting their hands up and I think we played it well. We’d saved the bench for extra-time because we thought it would go to that but thankfully we didn’t need it and I got to save the legs a bit and celebrate.”

For Manly head coach Damien Cummins, to come so close and end up empty handed was an understandable blow. But he was pragmatic enough to also know that his side had performed admirably on their return to the big occasion and that they had lacked for nothing in terms of commitment and performance.

“I’m disappointed but not shattered, because we played as best as we probably could,” he said. “It was a fair battle and it came down to a field goal, it’s not like we went out there and we were so bad they beat us by 40pts. The guys were out on their feet at the end, they gave their all but at the end of the day we got beaten by a field goal.

“There were occasions where we could have done things a little bit better and whether that came down to the moment I don’t know but we could have potentially done things better in the first half, particularly our ball control. The amount of time we spent in their 22, we should have reaped the benefits from a penalty or a try but we didn’t, so I knew at half-time that they would have the wind with them in the second half and the boys were going to have to work really hard.

“Eastwood got a couple of early penalties to get back to 9-all after only 10 minutes of the second half and a lot of teams would have felt the oxygen being sucked out of that game at that point but to our credit, we fought hard and we dug deep and we had opportunities.

“To be honest, I thought the first half and the second half weren’t dissimilar to each other. Eastwood had a bit of an opportunity to attack in the first half but we had more and in the second half, we had minimal chances but we took them and they had more opportunities. I thought it was a really good game of footy, a really good honest game of footy.”

Manly skipper Matt Lucas has been in inspired form this season and produced another towering display in defeat – Photo: AJF Photography

Not making hay while the sun shone for the Marlins in that opening half hour was a factor that Matt Lucas didn’t deny either. But the Manly skipper – outstanding in defeat – was also able to see the many positives that should emerge once the pain of the loss has subsided.

“We probably didn’t score enough points in the first half with that wind and that wasn’t through lack of effort, we couldn’t have tried any harder, things just didn’t quite go our way,” he said. “But having said that, it still took a drop goal in the 78th minute to put them in front so they took similar points to us with the wind in the second half.

“We probably gave away too many penalties in that second half in and around our 22, and they were penalties close to the posts too, there weren’t any that were out wide, and that probably hurt us but it is what it is. There were no tries, it was brutal but someone does have to win – and it wasn’t us. They were good enough to do it and we weren’t so credit to them, they’re a class side and we’ve just got to bounce back and have a crack next year.

“We’d struggled in big games in the past and we didn’t this year so there’s a lot to build on, there’s a lot to take out of it. It came down to a drop goal in the 78th minute and it could easily have gone the other way so it wasn’t like we didn’t show up today – we did – but the Woodies were too good.”

The decisive moment in the match was preceded by an incredible penalty miss from the usually reliable Ben Batger. The affable veteran finished as the leading points scorer in the Shute Shield in his final season but admitted afterwards that he may owe a considerable debt to Jai Ayoub for making sure his miss didn’t prove costly.

“I owe Jai quite a few beers don’t I!” laughed the 31-year-old. “It was just a classic choke, I’ve got no defence really. I poked at it instead of following through and it missed and it could have cost us in the end but all’s well that ends well. I think we had a penalty advantage and I can’t say I was confident about taking that next kick but Jai put it over and that was the end of the story, we won.

“I was pretty annoyed after the miss. I’m thinking ‘Last game and I’ve choked completely!’ but these things happen and in the end, the script went to plan for me, we won the GF and it doesn’t matter about individual stuff, it’s all about the team and the boys.”

Captain and good mate Hugh Perrett, also saw the funny side but was more pleased with how his side responded to set up the eventual match-winner.

“He hadn’t missed one all day and he misses one from in front which is ironic,” he smiled. “He was dirty on himself but I was alright because it meant we stayed down in that territory. There were still about five minutes to go when he missed and although I knew it could have been the game, I also knew that we’d have five minutes to play to get out of our half and back down the other end. We built back into position well after it for Jai to take the opportunity and he slotted it.”

Flying Jai: Match-winner Jai Ayoub takes to the air in search of the try line – Photo: AJF Photography

Ayoub himself was happy to play down his role in proceedings. Having given a man-of-the-match performance in last season’s triumph over Southern Districts before coming up with the crucial play this time out, the humble flyhalf was just happy to see his retiring team mates go out on a high.

“We had a penalty advantage from the previous ruck so it was a bit of a no pressure situation and I guess that may have eased the nerves a little bit,” he offered. “I’m just happy it went over. We have been practicing them a bit through the finals period in terms of the team set-up and so on but to actually get a hold of it and for it to go through was pretty satisfying.

“We knew what we were in for against Manly and we knew that we were both similar in terms of what we offered so, it was a matter of who was going to outlast the other really, who was going to throw the last jab and get the points and we were pretty lucky that it was us.

“I think in particular having the cool heads of Benny and Hughie out there, they were calm and collected and Ben offers so much talk and communication to myself in terms of what he can see from behind me and that’s definitely a factor. They’ve got something like 380 1st grade games combined and that is experience that you just can’t buy. It’s the way they deserve to go out so I’m just happy for that, it didn’t matter if it was me or anyone else.”

After Ayoub had slotted the all-important kick, Manly had one shot left at taking the game into extra-time. With only seconds remaining, they manoeuvred themselves into position, only to see Sam Lane’s attempted field goal fall agonisingly wide to signal Eastwood’s celebrations. But skipper Matt Lucas had no regrets.

“We were trying to milk the penalty but we were also conscious of holding the ball for too long, making a mistake ourselves and then thinking ‘Should we have just had a crack and backed ourselves?’” he admitted. “We held the ball for a few minutes, they defended it well and we weren’t actually going very far and they were very well disciplined. We were within range and pulled the trigger but unfortunately, it didn’t go over and that’s footy.

“The boys are all gutted but we know what a year it’s been and the enjoyment we’ve had. We’ve learned so much and we’ve discovered a lot about ourselves. The enjoyment of this year has been incredible and I’ve no doubt that everyone has had one of the most fun years of rugby they would have played in their whole life.”

“Sure, we lost today but everything else has been awesome,” affirmed coach Damien Cummins. “Leading up to today, starting back in November, has been nothing but positive and I’ve never seen better camaraderie in any team I’ve played in or coached like I have with these guys. This has been the best year of my sporting life, including when I was playing. To see this group come together the way they have has been so satisfying, this year for me has just been phenomenal.”

Out On A High: Retiring Eastwood legends Hugh Perrett and Ben Batger enjoy the spoils of victory – Photo: J.B Photography

But the final words go to the two retiring club legends who have been there, seen it, done it and got plenty of tee-shirts along the way. Between them, they have featured in six Grand Finals for the Woodies in the last 12 years, and now walk away with four Premierships to reflect on with some satisfaction. They will leave a pretty big hole at TG Millner.

“You couldn’t write a better fairytale ending so it’d be hard to come back after that,” conceded Ben Batger. “It’s an amazing club with a big family feel to it and I’ve been lucky enough to play with sides that have reached six Grand Finals. It’s a phenomenal place and I’ll miss it a lot.”

“There has been plenty of reflection on my time at Eastwood over the last couple of weeks because the semi-final could have been my last game for the club,” finished Hugh Perrett. “Every Grand Final messes with your head a little bit, they’re a bit sleepless because you don’t stop thinking about it and there’s a big fear about not performing and not winning. But I couldn’t ask for any better ending really, it’s been the dream finish.”

EASTWOOD 15 (Ben Batger 4 pens, Jai Ayoub field goal) defeated MANLY 12 (Matt Lucas 4 pens)