THERE were shades of the lost 2014 grand final present on Saturday for the Steamers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the roles were reversed, and this time it was the dominant Albury side that were able to hang on against the plucky underdogs in Wagga.
While the Steamers weren't to be denied this time around, coach Mick Raynes said there was a level of irony in the way both the game and the finals series played out.
“It was a mirror image of last year's final in some ways,” Raynes said.
“Wagga had done a great job to sneak into the finals and then scrape into the grand final against Leeton last week.
“For them to get pipped at the post is very similar to what happened to us last year, which is pretty interesting.
“There was a deal of irony in it, we'd been the dominant team all year and we really struggled to win.”
After winning a premiership in his first year as captain, Richard Manion said the Steamers did well to handle the weight of expectation that was on their shoulders.
“It was a lot of pressure on the players heading into it when you're expected to win,” Manion said.
“After last year though, getting the win was huge for this group.
“Even when we were down it felt like we were in the contest.
“We knew that the 12-point lead they had early wasn't going to be enough to hold us off.”
It was a bruising encounter, with Manion one of a number of Steamers who were walking wounded when the final whistle blew.
It was probably a lot tighter than we would have liked, Wagga played extremely well.
- Richard Manion
The captain copped a heavy knock to the ribs in the opening minutes before finishing the game with a bloodied nose after being split open in the second half.
He, Blake le Cornu and Liam Krautz all battled various injuries for the majority of the game, but battled through to be among the Steamers most influential players on Saturday.
“We just had to get on with the game,” Manion said.
“There's not much you can do about the injuries, you just have to manage it as best you can.
“We'd been the dominant side all year, and from a consistency point of view I think that really helped us.”
What hadn't helped was the on-and-off preparation for the grand final the Steamers endured.
They missed the first week of the finals, before earning their place in the grand final and another week off with their semi-final thumping of Leeton.
“It probably showed in the first 20 minutes that we were a little bit short of a run,” Manion said.
“It is difficult to get up when you've only played two out of four week of finals.
“Winning the semi-final by such a big margin made it a bit challenging as well in a sense.
“We were able to put our heads down and get the job done though, that's all that matters.”
After Saturday, the Steamers have now played in the last four grand finals, winning this year and in 2013.
