NSW defeats ACT to take Championship title
The ACT juniors went down to NSW in the final of the u21 National Championships, 31:20, on Sunday at Sydney Olympic Park.
The ACT team, comprising mostly of players under 18 years of age, pushed their more experienced opponents from the start, staying in close contention for up to 20 minutes of the game. The ACT team had goalkeeper Curtis Eitzen mostly to thank for that early success though. The twenty year old keeper, who represented Australia at the last World Championships, saved repeated shots from NSW, including several fast breaks and break-through attempts to keep his side in the game.
After the break, NSW started to take more control, racing off to a safe lead from the start. In the end, the blues winning comfortably to repeat last years performance.
Queensland missed out on the final, at the hands of ACT, but got consolation when their top player, Caleb Gahan, was announced as the highest scorer for the championships.
NSW takes the u18 titles
Earlier in the day, NSW had defeated Queensland in the u18 boys to take out the u18 title. For the surprise of the tournament the NSW B team took out the girls u18 Championship defeating the NSW A side. NSW taking out all the junior titles this year again.