Bundarra Bears defeat Warialda Wombats 22-20 in Group 19 second division major semi final

After winning the Group 4 second division competition in 2017, the Bears were forced to drop out of the competition last year but returned in 2019 with huge success.

They finished second in the Group 19 second division competition, which meant they travelled to Warialda to take on the Wombats in the major semi final, with the winner to advance straight through to the grand final.

The Bears were unable to defeat the Wombats in their two regular season meetings, albeit by close margins.

They faced off all the way back in round one, going down 28-22 before the Wombats got the better of them again in round eight in a 24-20 loss.

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The Bears were up against it in the early stages of the match, with the Wombats getting out to an early 10-0 lead.

The Bears bounced back with a try of their own before the Wombats added another to go into the half time break with a 14-6 lead.

Bundarra got off to the perfect start in the second half, scoring two tries to snatch the lead at 16-14, but the Wombats wouldn't go down easy as they scored again to return to a 20-16 lead.

It seemed the Wombats game to lose, before the Bears scored a try in the last minute, with Jake Deaves converting to give the Bears an amazing 22-20 victory and grand final hosting rights.

"It's been a big year at Bundarra," Bears captain-coach Luke Deaves said.

"We've come a long way from the side that we put together at the start of the year, to now come away with a win and go straight through to the grand final."

Deaves knew the Wombats would be very tough to beat.

"They always start well. They always come out to an early lead, we just had to chase," he said.

"Just to come away with the win. We've been battling a lot of injuries, to get the win and the weekend off, that was the best thing about it."

There were some initial worries that Bundarra wouldn't be able to host the grand final as there was no fence surrounding the ground, but after some discussions with the league, those concerns were put to bed.

"We've definitely got it at home, we've just got to do a bit of fencing," Deaves said.

"It's going to be really good for the town. I don't think we've had a home grand final for about 25 years.

"For a little town like Bundarra, the town's going to be alive next Saturday."

The Wombats will now host the Ashford Roosters - who defeated the Tingha Tigers 24-18 in the minor semi final - in the preliminary final on Saturday.

Deaves isn't too concerned about who the Bears faces in the grand final, but he's expecting Warialda to be too strong against Ashford.

He wants to make sure his side can get off to a better start in the decider compared to the last Saturday's win.

"We can't let a side like Warialda get out to them early starts," he said.

"They're a hard side to run down. They're a very well structured side."

Saturday's preliminary final kicks off at 1.45pm at the Warialda Sports Ground before the grand final at the Bundarra Sport and Rec Club on August 17.