RUGBY LEAGUE: They may not have cracked the top two, but Roos player/coach Aaron Gorrell said his squad is looking forward to a successful finals campaign after a 36-12 win over the Rams to finish the regular season, and is confident the squad rectified the sub-par performance in their 30-4 thumping at the hands of Goulburn the week prior.
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"It was a really good response from the team after our poor effort the week before," he said.
"Nothing went our way [against Goulburn], they made the most of our silly errors- errors that we haven't made since round one. It was definitely a wake up call and a reality check.
"We lacked a bit in our execution [against the Rams], but our commitment was back. They scored a couple of times off of our errors."
Queanbeyan dominated play and maintained control throughout the game, barring a few minor lapses in concentration, leading 18-4 at halftime and a brilliant defensive effort from the Roos only allowed to Rams to score another eight points for the second half and allowed the homeside to run out victorious by 24 points.
Star five-eighth Jordan Macey was rested because of a minor shoulder issue, but Gorrell said he would definitely be back for the semi final against West Belconnen and praised efforts of his replacement, Ben Warner.
"Ben Warner stepped in for Macey in the five-eighth position and it was never going to be smooth, but he handled it very well," he said.
"We thought we'd give [Macey] a week off to freshen up from playing union [in the US]."
Fullback Bryan Cronan (two tries) has been one of the Roos most dependable for the season and Gorrell said he could easily slot into any lineup.
"He's the best [fullback] in the competition by far. He had a good season last year, but this season he's been one of our best every week," he said.
"He's been with us for about three years and he's just gotten better and better each year.
"He's tough and he makes any team wear him- he wouldn't be out of place in any team."
The efforts of Adam Pearce, Troy Wiley and Steve Dunn were also praised by Gorrell, who said the Roos "didn't have a bad player", but it was Sekope Meke who has seemed to have made his way into the captain/coach's 'most reliable' group.
"[Meke] started the first three-quarters of the season on the bench, but the last four weeks he's been great," Gorrell said.
"He's really what you need from a winger."
The Roos continue on the road to a Canberra Raiders Cup premiership this Saturday, August 15 at 3pm when they take on West Belconnen in the semi final.
West Belconnen will not be a walk in the park for the Roos, Gorrell said- coming off of four straight wins, including victories over first and second placed Blues and Goulburn.
"You don't ever want to be overconfident. We beat ourselves in games and we get beaten when we don't play a full 80 minutes," he said.
"Our structure has worked all year, if we believe in our structure and ourselves and play for a full 80 minutes we can beat any team.
"We have a lot of players who have played in semis and grand finals, so hopefully we can stick around for a few more weeks."
Reigning premiers the Blues sealed the minor premiership after a 44-point thumping of Belconnen United- they will play Goulburn in next week's major semi.
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 36 (Bryan Cronan 2, Matt Adam, Sekope Meke, Jack Miller, Jed Pearce tries; Miller 6 goals) bt WODEN VALLEY RAMS 12 (Eddie Jenkins, Tim Crome, John White tries).
QUEANBEYAN BLUES 60 (A Misios 2, T Ruediger 2, J Wheeler, C Wilkinson, D Pangai, J Woolford, K Sione, M Cullen, J Farnhill tries; C Wilkinson 8 goals) bt BELCONNEN UNITED 16 (R Allen jnr, J Lafaele, C Purcell tries; M Mapiou 2 goals)
