A FIVE star outing from Brisbane Broncos-bound Wellington gun Kotoni Staggs has helped the Cowboys end a 20-year under-18 premiership drought.
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Staggs scored two tries, set up two others and booted five of his six conversion attempts to lead his home town to a memorable 42-18 title win over a gallant Nyngan at Caltex Park.
Man of the match in the Cowboys 24-point win, Staggs will join the Broncos for pre-season training in November ahead of next year’s Holden Cup, and if his outing on Sunday on the grand stage is any indication, Brisbane has a hugely influential player on its hands for 2017.
“I knew I had to step up. It was a big game, I just had to do my job,” Staggs said.
Tears of joy. It’s unbelievable. ... the effort we put in at training all year turned out to be a winner.
- Cowboys gun Kotoni Staggs
“I hope I did that and I hope the crowd is happy with what they saw.”
Unbackable favourites leading into the clash, Wellington started somewhat slowly with the ball but produced the sort of defence most premiership-winning teams lean on in big moments.
The Cowboys repelled a number of Nyngan raids in the first 15 minutes, and when given a shot with the ball, scored some cracking tries of their own.
Brian Baxter, Brad McCarroll and Staggs scored first half tries for the minor premiers, with a four-pointer from Tigers cult figure Stanley Lord brought the Nyngan crowd to its feet.
At 16-6 after the break, Nyngan came out the stronger of the two sides, and should have scored not long into the second stanza only for a drop pass with the line wide open.
Staggs then left his mark on the game.
The powerful lock set up a try for Will Allen, before scoring one himself – his a stunning 35-metre dash – to bookend a try to the also impressive McCarroll, gifting the Cowboys a premiership-winning lead at 32-6.
As they’ve done all year, Nyngan fought hard and bounced back with tries to Jak Jeffrey and Zane Westover.
But Wellington lifted a gear to seal the win, 42-18.
“It was always going to be a hard … the boys put in all year and this is a game we were looking forward to winning, Its been 20 years, and I’m just happy we won it for them,” Staggs said looking at the throng of Wellington fans swamping his teammates.
“Tears of joy. It’s unbelievable. ... the effort we put in at training all year turned out to be a winner.
“I’m off to Brisbane in November. I’m looking very forward to going up there and make a career of it.”
Tigers skipper Clayton Couley was shattered after the loss.
“It wasn’t a great day but we kept in the fight all game,” the Western Rams under-18s backrower said.
Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
