If they weren’t prior to Friday’s final already, Orange Public School’s open boys’ rugby league team confirmed its standing as the premier outfit in the Western Primary Schools Sports Association after a 48-4 win over Gulgong Public School in the knockout final at Wade Park.
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Cruising through the initial stages of the tournament before securing passage into the final with a 40-6 triumph over Wallerawang in the semi-final, Michael Kelly’s OPS team raced to a 24-4 halftime lead before securing the knockout title in emphatic fashion with a 44-point victory in Orange.
Kelly said he was pleasantly surprised by margin his side secured the WPSSA title by.
“I thought they’d do really well, but for them to come through and win it has been great. They’re brilliant to watch,” Kelly said.
“They’re really good out wide and the way the boys have bonded together throughout the whole knockout has been nice. They’ve conducted themselves well and the sportsmanship they’ve demonstrated is a credit to the team.”
Kelly labelled lock Kaden Williams as one of his side’s best, as was fullback Jack Cole.
The school side will now tackle the Legends Shield at Macquarie University Playing Fields against the other winning teams from regions around NSW on August 19.
From the WPSSA final win, they’ll also progress through the state knockout.
“They’ll be up against some pretty tough opposition,” Kelly said of his team’s looming challenges.
“It’s going to be a good experience for them. It’ll be a massive challenge.”
For Gulgong, although the result in the final was not what they were hoping on, it was still a marvellous effort to get to that stage of the competition considering the size of the town and school compared to their Orange counterparts.
With so many young prospects coming through the ranks at Gulgong Public school, it seems the Terriers will continue to be competitive in years to come.
