The little Tigers started on fire playing the brand of footy they have played all year and after 20 minutes it looked like we would win by 40 points. 

At that point we held an eight-nil lead after tries to Kyle Hall and Lachy Donnelly, but from then the boys started making mistakes with the ball and allowed Saints back in the game. 

I think the hot weather and big occasion may have got to the boys a bit too. 

Handling errors gave Saints a chance right on half-time and they made the most of it to cross for a converted try. 

The boys went to the sheds leading 8-6.

We got the best possible start from the kick-off with Billy Quarmby finding touch to put us on the attack straight up. 

Sonny Knight made the most of it slicing open the Saints defence to race 30 metres and score under the posts extending the lead to 14-6.

From that point we were pretty well under the pump with Saints dominating the game. 

They scored two unanswered tries to level the scores at 14-all with less than 10 minutes to go.

We looked gone for all money when Billy Quarmby and Xander Wood stood tall at the right time. 

A rib rattling tackle from Xander saw Saints spill the ball and give us possession for a final crack at them. 

Bill, Xander and Kyle’s aggressive running in the dying stages took us down their end to see our clever little hooker Toby Smith sneak from dummy-half and race 10 metres to score the match winner with under a minute left on the clock. 

This was a super team effort to come back and win the way they did. 

The boys showed a mountain of courage, every player deserves a mention so here we go.

1. Lachy Donnelly: Super game was awarded the Man of the Match, made big metres with the ball and also pulled off a couple of try saving tackles.

2. Tyler Martin: As solid as a rock, made some very crucial tackles on his wing.

3. Emma Teale: Finished off a great season with a solid performance.

4. Jack Stanford: Pulled off a game saving tackle on a much bigger kid when Saints looked likely to score, was also handy with the ball.

5. Phoenix Underwood: Never put a foot wrong in a strong performance.

6. Cale Dunn: One of our best, opened Saints up on six or seven occasions, also shut them down with crucial one-on-one tackles.

7. Col Robb-Piper: A real grand final performance, was clever with the ball, his kicking game kept us in the contest when we looked gone.

8. Billy Quarmby: Great performance from Bill, he never stopped taking us forward and was among our best players.

9. Toby Smith: Scored the match winner and like Bill was one of our best.

10. Kyle Hall: Capped off a great season with another fine game, got the Tigers going forward.

11. Will Boag: Was busy throughout, made good ground with the ball.

12. Xander Wood: Dominant performance from Xander, was our best for mine.

13. Sonny Knight: Cut Saints to pieces when he had the ball, scored a super solo try.

14. Hamish Donnelly: Went well this season and a valuable member of our side.

15. Kain Nankervis: Safe on the wing, made a couple of important tackles.

16. Oliver Lee:  Strong in defence worked hard in his time on the paddock.

17. Dylan Vener: Big Dylan is more noted for his running but it was in defence that he stood out on Saturday, made four tackles in a row at one stage.

Well done boys and a big thank you to all the Tigers’ supporters who made the trip to Dubbo. 

We have got the best supporters in the Group by a mile, also thank you to Egg, Dunny, Col and Dave who helped Brendan and myself all season. We are a lucky club to have the great helpers we have.

Go the Tigers and good luck to the Reserve Grade boys in their grand final on Sunday against Dubbo Cyms.

Trevor Waterhouse