Cockatoos win Australian Rugby Shield
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Monday, 2 June 2008
NSWRU Media Unit
The NSW Country Cockatoos have won the 2008 Australian Rugby Shield after defeating the Adelaide Black Falcons 36-20 in South Australia.
Australian Rugby Shield
Australian Rugby Shield
The win saw the Cockatoos make it four from four and leapfrog Queensland Country to go to the top of the competition ladder.
Adelaide proved to be the biggest test for the Cockatoos throughout the season, with their free-flowing style of play testing the Cockatoo defence.
The Cockatoos opened the match on the front foot, and after 25 minutes of play had set up a handy 11-0 lead, with a try to Blake Creighton and two penalty goals to David Kennedy.
Adelaide struck back with a try winger Mikaele Leawere five minutes later, but this score was negated by a converted try to Gavin Holder which gave the Cockatoos an 18-5 lead.
The Black Falcons refused to give in, and in the dying minutes of the half kicked a penalty goal before Leawere crossed for his second try, taking the score to 18-13 at the break.
The second half opened with Creighton blitzing the defence to cross for his second try, and with the conversion the Cockatoos moved to a 25-13 advantage.
Adelaide were not giving up however and five minutes later their forwards drove over for a converted try to bring the scoreline to 25-20.
The Cockatoos immediately struck back when David Kennedy won the race to the ball to score and stretched the lead to 30-20.
The remainder of the half saw both sides throw everything at one another, but the defences held with the Cockatoos closing the match out with two penalty goals to Kennedy.
The forwards again laid the foundation with the back-row of Holder, John Norton and Mike Te Moana standing out in a team performance. Teenage fullback Blake Creighton was named player's player
The victory saw the Cockatoos claimed their fourth victory in the Australian Rugby Shield, having previously won the title in 2001, 2003 and 2004.
NSW Country Cockatoos 36 (Blake Creighton 2, Gavin Holder, David Kennedy tries; David Kennedy 4 pens, 2 cons) d Adelaide Black Falcons 20 (Mikaele Leawere 2, Timothy Mattin tries; Warren Duff con, pen) at Parkinson Oval, Burnside.
Final Standings: NSW Country 18, QLD Country 15, Melbourne 6, Adelaide, 5, Darwin 4.