The Yass Reserve Grade Magpies not only swooped in on the Grand Final, but they might’ve also stolen everyone’s breath in a tough showdown against the West Belconnen Warriors on Saturday, 19 September that proved to be a competition for the ages.
Entering the Grand Final was achievement enough for the Magpies, who were set to compete against the Warriors (who were sitting on top of the regular season).
Our boys hadn’t made it easy in the lead-up to the Grand Final for the West Belconnen team, taking a 14-0 win against the Warriors in the Semi’s. They were careful not to be too cocky as they faced the West Belconnen team once more at Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, the original training grounds for the Canberra Raiders, for their Grand Final showdown.
The Magpies had more than determination backing them, after going down 14-4 to the Bulls in the 2025 Grand Final. This year, they were keen to break their 66-year drought of winning the Grand Final.
Neither team played on home ground, and the grounds were flush with black and white supporters. It was clear from the get-go that the match was highly anticipated by fans from both sides, with the grand stand quickly filling with banners, inflated headshots and families.
From kick-off the Magpies kept their defences tight, forcing the Warriors to fight for a try, eventually slipping through the cracks 17 minutes into the match.
With 11 minutes on the clock of the first half, player number one (and Co-Coach) Andrew Swaffield scored the team’s first try.
By half-time, the Warriors were leading the Magpies, 4-6, with halfback Liam Grame copping a 10-minute benching after a particularly tough tackle.
On their return, the crowd had been whipped into a frenzy as Yass supporters cheered encouragement (and other enthusiastic sentiments) to the boys as they got their game faces on.
With 27.30 minutes to go, it was looking bleak for the Yass team, who still sat on 4 to the Warrior’s 18, after the Belco boys took home another two tries and some conversions.
However, with 21 minutes to go, something switched.
Yass scored two more tries, bringing the Mapies score up for 12-18.
15 minutes to go and the crowd was… ravenous.
With less than ten minutes to go, Liam Grame had a successful conversion, following Timothy McPhillip’s try, bringing the Magpies flush with the Warriors 18-18.
Another successful try from Timothy McPhillips and a conversion by Liam Grame put the boys up to 24-18, and with only three minutes left on the clock, it was all they could do to defend, defend, defend.
The whistle had barely been blown before supporters were climbing the fence, celebrating the historic win for the boys in black and white.
After a heady game, the boys were able to hold the trophy aloft – the first time since the team had won in the 1960s.
The Times caught up with Co-Coach Andrew Swaffield after a lot of celebrations for the club was had, he commented, “We had a primary focus on defence and fitness this year. It showed with our team, we only conceded just 162 points in the regular season, the fewest in the competition. Our fitness really came through when it mattered overcoming an 18-4 deficit in hot conditions on a Grand Final day.
“We have a good mix of youth and experience. We’re expecting a few players will be ready for First Grade next season.
“Experience along with fitness and a ‘whatever it takes’ attitude helped get us over the line. Our group has trained hard all year completing some really difficult sessions, it has built a resilient squad.
“It was a hot day and the first half played out as expected with both teams competing hard. Warriors led at half time 6-4. We were confident at half time but Warriors got the jump on us in the second half scoring two tries quickly. We were able to claw our way back after Sam Pye-Edwards got a one on one strip and raced 50m to score.Veteran Shaun Davis scored another try before our two halves Liam Grame and Tim McPhillips combined for another. With 5mins to go we setup with a play we’ve practised many times at training but never used in a game and it put Sam over for his second and sealed the win.
“We had an amazing crowd of Yass supporters over there. The grandstand was filled with black and white.
“It is 66 years since we won a Reserve grade title.”
“Celebrations continued Saturday night all through Sunday. Our sponsor the Yass Soldiers Club hosted us on Monday for lunch and to watch the game back on the big screen. We’ll all take a couple of days rest and resume celebrations at our presentation night on Saturday.”
Teams will now take a well earned break before preparations commence for season 2027.
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