The 19-year-old was not even in the Raiders' Toyota Cup squad at the start of the season, but on Sunday the Queanbeyan Blue junior started in the place of injured forward Matt Britt.

Britt, who injured his back last week, has been a regular front-row starter for the season, keeping Edwards to the bench.

But the injury meant a sour end to Britt's season, finishing one game short of his goal.

In contrast, for Edwards the injury meant he became a starter in the Toyota Cup grand final.

And his performance was inspiring, making 35 tackles and having 22 runs for 227m.

Edwards said the start came as a surprise.

''I thought I was going to start off the bench with Shaun [Fensom] back and basically do my usual role, but I had to move and adapt with Matt being out,'' Edwards said.

''I suppose it was a good opportunity for me.''

Edwards, who played in the Queanbeyan Blues first grade grand final loss in 2006, said the week had been long.

He had a troubled pre-season, out of form and battling injury.

''I was pretty nervous it's been a big week there wasn't often during the week that I wasn't thinking about the grand final.''

Queanbeyan coach Neil Bijorac remembers watching the prop during the Blues' 2006 season, when Edwards missed out on a Raiders under-18 contract.

He said it was good to see another Queanbeyan boy enjoy success.

''I remember when he didn't make the Raiders 18s, I was pretty shocked at that,'' Bijorac said. ''I thought he was definitely a player who could go on and develop into the player he is.

''He's a pretty care-free kid, but he does have the desire, he does want to make it, and you can see that in the way he's playing he played a lot of minutes on the weekend and made some good metres.''

Edwards went down concussed midway through the second half, but fought through the pain to see out the match deep into extra time.

He said the winning play would remain with him forever.

''I was about 40m behind the play when it happened, so I sprinted to catch up, and by the time I got to the boys I was out of breath,'' Edwards said. ''I was too tired to hug them, and then I burst into tears.

''I was struggling big time but it makes it all the more special being on the field for the last pass in extra time.''

The Raiders under-20s side returned to Canberra yesterday to begin Mad Monday celebrations following a presentation dinner with family and friends on Sunday night after the game.