Albury-Wodonga Steamers’ Lex Botha celebrated his birthday with four tries at Murrayfield Oval on Saturday helping the team to a massive 68-point victory over Leeton.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The win has locked-in a forth consecutive Southern Inland Rugby Union grand final for the Steamers who will go into the match without Liam Krautz.
Krautz damaged his quadriceps at training on Thursday night which will see him sidelined for the rest of the season.
The blue and gold boys struggled in the first-half against the Phantoms who came out hard and physical.
But Leeton was no match for the Steamers once the boys upped their intensity.
Botha said the win was a true team effort.
“Our back line connected really well and played well together as a team,” he said.
“The first half was very physical and we struggled a bit, but in the second half our fitness improved and we played much better.
“I think it was one of the games where everything we have been training for all season came together and fell into place.
“It was a really good way to celebrate with four tries on my birthday, I think I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Despite the initial struggle, Steamers finished the first half ahead by 19 points.
When the nerves settled and the boys found their feet, they widened the margin finishing the game with a 85 to 17 win.
Coach Mick Raynes said now they have their first finals game out of the way, the boys will be ready to go hard in the grand final.
“Sometimes in finals difficult to to reach the intensity we need.
“So we will be looking to come out strong early in the grand final.
“Once we start playing at the level we need, we can maintain it - we just need to get to it sooner.”
Leeton received a couple of yellow cards in the second-half which opened the field up for the Steamers to dominate.
Raynes said Botha, Richard Manion and James Olds started to attack the Phantoms out wide which led to a few tries.
Olds had an outstanding day converting 11 out of 12 tries and picking up 35 points for the Steamers.
Besides the loss of Krautz, the Steamers are expecting to go into the grand final with a full side.
“He damaged his quad so it doesn’t look like he'll be back,” Raynes said.
“He's been a core figure this year and he is a big loss for us, but the guys stepped up and the club rallied around Liam and the boys and it gave them that bit of extra motivation.”
Some of the boys took heavy knocks in the first-half but are expected to make a quick recovery before the big game.
Raynes said the side has consistency and plenty of players with finals experience.
“Ash Lefevre really gave us a go forward every time we needed it,” he said.
Leeton will face Wagga Waratahs next week after they defeated Tumut 35 to 29.
