Mudgee Mudcrabs recorded their best result at the NSW Touch Junior State Cup (JSC) with three teams making it to the finals.
Mudgee sent eight teams to the JSC Southern Conference at Wagga Wagga on the last weekend of February – Boys and Girls teams in the Under 10s, Under 12s, Under 14s and Under 18s divisions.
The Under 10 Girls made the semi-finals going down by two tries to Cronulla, who went on to win the Grand Final. The side won four of their six games and their only defeat was at the hand of the Sharks.
Both our Under 18s teams finished in the top eight – the first time this has occurred. The Girls were in sensational form defeating sides such as Parramatta, Cronulla and St George. They went down to Wollongong and Wests in the pool stage to make them finish third. They played a very strong Orange Thunder in the quarters who were far too skilled for the Mudcrabs.
Meanwhile the boys snuck into the final eight with solid wins over Yass and Lower Blue Mountains, and a 5-5 draw with Balmain. They played Hills in the quarter-finals and it was the Hornets who advanced to the semi-finals.
Mudgee could have easily had three more teams make the quarter-finals, with the Under 12s Girls and Boys, and Under 14s Girls missing out on a quarter-final spot on percentages.
The Under 12s Boys made a hot start winning their opening three matches of the weekend. Day two saw the boys have mixed results, none more so than the 3-3 draw with Canberra that would ultimately cost the Mudcrabs their final eight spot. Mudgee missed out on the quarter-finals by 0.07 of an average point.
The Under 12s Girls were also left frustrated as they only tasted defeat once but were unable to make the finals. Going down 3-1 to Orange in their opening game, the Girls then won four and drew three of their remaining seven matches. Mudgee missing out on the quarter-finals by two tries.
It was a similar story for the Under 14s Girls having missed out on reaching the quarter-finals on for-and-against. The Girls only suffered two losses all weekend but those two losses were against two of the strongest sides in the competition. Mudgee had great wins against Parramatta, Canterbury and UNSW.
The Under 14s and Under 10s Boys sides finished 13th and 14th respectively. The Under 14s were too good for Deakin and Leeton, while the Under 10s Boys picked up a victory over UNSW.
Mudgee also did well in the referee tent with Ben Harris appointed the Girls Under 16s grand final and Krystal Laughton the Under 10s Girls decider. Fellow referees Jamie Gallen, Edie Azar, Blake Coulthart, Phil Riley, Andrew Nash, Tes Woods and Paul Keyte were all appointed finals games.
