Six Goulburn teams have been named minor premiers by Canberra Region Rugby League, following the premature cancellation of the remainder of the 2021 season.
Four Goulburn Stockmen and two Goulburn City Bulldogs teams were at the top of their respective ladders when the season ground to a halt under the weight of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The minor premiers of the junior competitions are as follows:
- Under 10s Div 1 - Goulburn Stockmen Blue
- Under 14s Div 1 - Goulburn Stockmen Blue
- Under 14s Div 2 - Goulburn Stockmen Maroon
- Under 16s Div 1 - Goulburn Stockmen Blue
The Goulburn Junior Stockmen congratulated its teams on their results despite what it described as a "bittersweet" end to the season.
"But huge congratulations for the sportsmanship shown over 2021," the club said on Facebook.
"Next year we hope for a bigger and brighter football season!"
Meanwhile, the two Goulburn outfits leading the senior divisions were:
- Katrina Fanning Shield - Goulburn City Bulldogs and Yass Magpies
- Under 19s - Goulburn City Bulldogs
Of the three teams to have qualified for the cancelled finals series, Goulburn's KFS and Under 19s sides were the two most dominant.
The Under 19s lost just one match all season, against the second-ranked Gungahlin Bulls, while they compiled 10 wins and a score differential of exactly 250.
Similarly, five players scored six tries or more for Goulburn, with Jyi Little on top of the CRRL try-scorers' pile with 12 of his own. On the point-scorers' list, Tom Harmer snuck home with a two-point lead to claim the number one spot.
The Goulburn Women's Tackle team, meanwhile, shared honours with the Yass Magpies, as both teams finished the competition with the same points tally (though the Bulldogs technically lead on the ladder due to a small advantage in the points differential).
The CRRL, however, was clear that teams with the same points on the top of the ladder would be joint minor premiers.
Goulburn's KFS side, much like the Under 19s, was dominant all year and only suffered a single loss, to Yass. Many of its nine wins came by margins of 40 or more, which led to a points differential of exactly 300.
Unlike the Under 19s, who spread their scoring fairly evenly, Krystal Blackwell did the bulk of the work for Goulburn, and her 12 tries for the season earned her second place in the competition-wide rankings. Maddie Tooth and Holly Deaton were the only other Bulldogs to crack the five-try barrier.
Lauren Kelly, meanwhile, played phenomenally as kicker, and finished a long way clear of second-ranked Payge-Louise Condon in the CRRL's point-scorer's tally, with 92 for the season.
The Goulburn City Bulldogs finished fourth in the race for the Club Championships, which was taken out, unsurprisingly, by the Gungahlin Bulls with a tally of 226 points.
There will be no medals awarded for minor premierships, while the McIntyre Medal and associated awards will be held once the current situation allows.
"Once again thank you for your outstanding efforts during this extraordinary season and for your contribution to seeing record participation in the Canberra Region Rugby League," the CRRL said in a statement.
"A truly remarkable feat considering the hurdles we have all had to face in the last two seasons."
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