The final siren wailed across the Boorowa Showgrounds, a sound that sliced through the cold afternoon air and declared a victor. For the Harden Hawks, a weary but elated group of men, it was the sound of salvation. They had done it. They had defeated the Boorowa Rovers 38-28 in a brutal, no-holds-barred preliminary final. But this wasn’t just about winning a game; it was about earning a second chance. It was about redemption.
Last season’s Grand Final loss to the Bungendore Tigers was more than a defeat; it was a ghost that haunted the Hawks. It lived in their memories, in the quiet moments on the training ground, and in the unspoken glances between teammates. Now, with this hard-fought victory, they had earned the right to face their nemesis once more, with the chance to exorcise that demon once and for all.
Harden’s coach, Nick Hall, stood on the sideline, a whirl-wind of emotions swirling within him. He watched his players celebrate, their tired bodies giving way to jubilant cheers. Just a few weeks ago, a different emotion had consumed them all: doubt. Hall had seen it in their eyes after tough losses to Crookwell and Boorowa.
“It’s funny how a few weeks before semis, Crookwell and Boorowa probably thought they had beaten us, muscled us, and they thought that they were going in with momentum on the back of that,” Hall said later. “And in that week two, our players were worried. You have to have a look at your-self and go, ‘Shit, that’s not what we want.'”
They had faced a moment of truth, a crucial inflection point. The Hawks could have let the worry fester, blaming external factors, or they could do what all great teams must eventually do—look inward. “We can blame refs, and there were a few things at the time, we like to cry about, but really, we looked at ourselves and credit goes to the boys for being honest with themselves,” Hall explained.
“We very specifically fixed four or five things and worked on them and added to the game, and the results have been there since then.”
The team stripped their game back to its bare essentials, like a master craftsman refining his tools. They focused on fundamentals, on the small, unglamorous things that make the difference between a good team and a great one. And the work paid off spectacularly in their clash with the Rovers.
The Hawks’ offence was a relentless machine. Young guns like Jayden Cutting and Jack Nicolls each crossed the line twice, showing a maturity beyond their years. Seasoned players like Drew Arabin, Chris Campbell, and Steve Anderson added their own tries, a testament to their unwavering commitment. The reliable boot of Tom McIllhatton was a weapon, slotting four of seven conversions and a crucial penalty goal to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
But the Rovers weren’t a team to be easily put away. They fought with the ferocity of a side with nothing to lose. Joe Prosper, Matt Canellis, and Charlie Fogg all scored, and the dynamic Austin Power crossed for a double. Their conversions from Cooper Cross and Tristan Mears kept the game within reach, but the Hawks’ momentum was simply too strong to halt.
Hall was particularly pleased with the effort in the middle of the park. While some of the Boorowa supporters grumbled about the Hawks’ success on the edges, the coach knew the real story lay in the trenches.
“What they’re not seeing is that we won the ruck,” he said. “We won the middles and we’re going through them in the middles, tackle one, two, three, we were just winning playing the balls at ease and making 50 metres.” This dominance was the engine room for the entire team, a relentless force that wore down the Rovers and created opportunities out wide.
Hall singled out Steve Anderson and Corey Lucas as “huge” for their efforts, and praised Zakaia Lewis for being “so dangerous” at dummy half.
The victory was decisive, but it had its moments of drama. Hall recalled a sequence where a few costly errors—a penalty for tackling a kicker, a missed tackle, and a kick out on the full—allowed Boorowa to score. The sideline erupted, with Hall himself “copping a fair bit of crap.”
But the team held their nerve. “We knew that once that stopped, we were going to complete, and that’s what we did,” Hall said. “I think we completed four sets in a row. Boorowa missed three sets in a row. They had three non-completions, and we scored three tries. That happened like in the blink of an eye, and the crowd went from being pretty confident… The crowd went quiet, and I think it was that way the rest of the game.”
With the win now secured, the Hawks’ focus shifted entirely to the Grand Final. The opponent: the Bungendore Tigers. This was not a new rivalry; it was a deeply personal one, a saga that had unfolded over Hall’s four years with the club. “They’ve been our boogie sides,” he admitted.
There had been draws, close losses, and a few blowouts, but the Tigers had always had the upper hand, culminating in their victory in last season’s Grand Final. This year, the narrative was different. The Hawks and Tigers had a draw and a tight one-try game earlier in the season.
“All those close results at least give us the belief that we can beat Bungendore,” Hall said. The challenge for the Hawks, however, would be fresh legs versus battle-hardened resolve.
The Tigers, having played only twice in the last month, would be rested and healed from earlier-season injuries. In contrast, the Hawks had played four times.
The question loomed: would the rest benefit the Tigers more, or would the Hawks’ recent game time and momentum be the decisive factor?
“I wonder how that goes, have they had enough footy, have they had enough time to heal their injuries, that’s probably in their favour, their chance to heal, but how are they going to be?” Hall mused, knowing that both he and Bungendore’s coach, Jack Bramley, were likely asking the same questions.
The answer would come after the first 15 or 20 minutes of the game. The Grand Final wasn’t just about the men’s team, either. It was a show of strength for the entire Harden Hawks club. The day would begin with the Hawkettes’ League Tag team facing off against the Crook well Green Devils.
For Hall, this was a reflection of the club’s deep community roots and a reminder of the need to foster the next generation of players. He spoke about the importance of reviving the Under-19 side, lamenting how young talent, like Joie Whybrow, Cooper Cross, and Steele Rudd, often had to leave the area to get a game.
The Grand Final would be a true spectacle, a clash of similar styles and a test of sheer will.
“Bungendore know their footy and they know our footy and we are pretty similar,” Hall said. “It might be some fine adjustments, but basically once the game settles and the fatigue gets in, both sides are just going to go hard at each other, and it’s going to be good.”
The final chapter of this rivalry will be written this Saturday, September 20, at Mick Sherd Oval, with kick-off scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
A fair few Harden locals would make the trip, braving the journey to support their boys. They would be a mix of the diehards who never miss a game and the curious who came to see if the Hawks could finally get it done. The stage was set.
The Hawks were ready. They had stared down their demons, put in the work, and now stood on the precipice of glory. It was a chance at redemption, and they were desperate to seize it.
– Tully Potts
