Despite falling five points short of claiming the Club Champion’s crown, the Devils put on a show hosting the 2018 NSW Touch Country Championships!
Playing in five grand finals, Wollongong Touch Association was well-represented at crunch-time on finals day!
The Women’s Open side successfully defended their title, with a 10-3 win over Tuggeranong Vikings in the decider.
“We’re hopeful our women’s team can really push towards the state championships finals from here,” coach and WTA Vice-President Tim Robinson told The Illawarra Mercury (photo courtesy).
“They were close last year and we’ve done a lot of work on our patterns during the country championships,” he said.
Both Men’s Open sides fell short by a single touchdown each in the Mens Finals. In the top division, Doyalson were too strong, winning 5-4, while in the second tier game, Muswellbrook out-muscled the Devils, 4-3.
2010 NRL Premiership winner Jamie Soward got bragging rights over former Dragons teammate Nathan Fien, with Wagga beating Wollongong 4-2 in the Men’s 30s final.
The Men’s 50s fell short on the big stage, outdone by Newcastle 4-2. The highlight of the weekend came off the field for the evergreen Devils, with Captain-Coach Bob Ognenovski presented with his NSW Blues Award for distinguished service to the sport of Touch.
Wollongong’s Mixed and Men’s 30s sides enjoyed a great weekend of top-class touch, and when they weren’t improving on the field, they kept the home fires burning on the barbeque, as the club’s representative players shared cooking duties.
WTA looks forward to hosting more large-scale Touch events, starting with the 2019 Junior Gala Day on Saturday 9th February, 2019, followed by the NSWTA State Cup Finals on Saturday 27th – Sunday 28th April, 2019.
