Alex Harvey (back, eighth from left) and his Colembally under-18s teammates following thier grand final win on Saturday.
Football
Deniliquin’s Alex Harvey has tasted premiership glory in a history making win with the Coleambally Blues under-18s last weekend.
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Harvey previously played for the Deniliquin Rovers before moving to the Coly district for work.
The under-18s flag in the Farrer League grand final on Saturday in Wagga broke a 19 year football premiership drought for the club.
And it was one of two history-making wins for the club, with the C-grade netball side winning its first netball premiership in 11 years after defeatin Barellan, 42-40.
The under-18s also only triumphed by two points.
Final score: Coleambally Blues 8.5 (53) def North Wagga Saints 6.15 (51).
The Blues had their noses in front at each quarter time break, leading by five points at quarter time, then by two points at each subsequent break.
The Robert Turner Medal, for the under-18s grand final best on ground, was awarded to Nic Cooper from the Coleambally Blues.
Other key best players for the Blues included Alex Pound, Dallas Hickey, Angus Graham, Nathan Vearing, Riley Andreazza, Archer Gill and Alex Harvey.
Coach Tony Pound said the team did well to stay in front at the final siren.
“We got in front by a couple, then they’d bring it back,” he said.
“We couldn’t separate from them. It was definitely a tight contest all day, in the second or third quarter they held the lead.
“Our defence was definitely strong, and we were just lucky they didn’t kick straight.”
While Nic Cooper capped off a great season with best on ground honours in a winning grand final, Tony said the whole team stood up when required.
“Nic was best on ground, but we needed every player on the field to have a great game.
“Half a dozen of the players had their best game of the season, and we definitely needed that.
“It is hard to say we were the best team on the day, as they had more scoring chances than we did, but we were in front at the end.
“It (winning) means a lot. It was the first year back in the under-18s competition as we didn’t have a team in last year, and we slowly built with a few boys coming in.
“It is a really exciting time for the club.”
Tony said most exciting of all is that with the team having a number of bottom age players, a 2026 team is looking promising.
The Coleambally C-grade 2025 premiers.
Coleambally C-Grade join the Coly U18s on the dias as Premiers of their respected grades in the FFNL in 2025.
The Robert Turner Medal winner for the FFNL 2025 under-18s grand final best on ground was Nic Cooper.
Lauren Pound was named best on court in the 2025 FFNL C-grade grand final.
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