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Warriors’ magic touch
By John Samin
Volume 49, No. 11, June 28, 2007 |
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CHAMPIONS: Warriors player SGT Brendan Sargent from 77SQN is scooting from half with the ball as SGT Ivan Petrovic from ADFA provides cover support against Albion Park during the NSW Country Touch Championships in Dubbo.
Photo by LT Anneke Kerklaan |
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THE ADF’s warrior ethos came to the fore when the Defence Touch Association Warriors mixed team took on six teams in the NSW Country Championships and walked away as the undefeated champions.
The competition was held in Dubbo over the weekend of May 25 and 26. This year, 88 teams from all over NSW country battled for supremacy in the 18 age divisions for men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
This championship is one of the premier events on the NSW Touch calendar, and competing teams from all over NSW Country train for months to battle it out for champion club (city) and to provide NSW Country selections for the NSW City v NSW Country touch event to be held in August. In contrast, the Warriors held a two-day training camp at Randwick Barracks prior to departing for Dubbo.
The mixed open division was well-contested with 15 teams competing in four seeded pools.
On the first day of competition, Defence stepped out valiantly against three other teams. In short order, the team defeated Nelson Bay 4-2, Albion Park 4-3 and Dubbo 10-9 to finish on top of the pool as the number one-seeded team.
Day two of the competition was a sudden death format where teams had to win to stay in the running. ADF Warriors defeated Wollongong 8-4 in the quarter-final and Griffith 5-1 in the semi-final.
The semi-final game was an exceptional effort by the team. Griffith was the 2006 mixed open champion and was also touted as an early favourite for the 2007 title.
The grand final game was played between the Warriors and Newcastle City. Strong performances by ‘player of the final’ PTE Manu Wakely, LSCSO Lee Harnden and FLTLT Zoe Kennedy had the Warriors gain ascendancy early in the game.
Newcastle City struck back late in the game, however, the Warriors were never headed and won comfortably with the final score line at 5 touchdowns to 2.
At the grand final presentation, NSW Touch president John Howard thanked the ADF Touch Association and the Warriors for helping to make the 2007 NSW Touch Championships a success.
The NSW Touch Association has selected SGT Ivan Petrovic and John Samin for NSW Country representation.
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