Teams from Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Tumbarumba came together for a day of action-packed rugby, which kicked off with an Under-18s Juniors game followed by Women’s League Tag matches and Senior Men’s matches.
Grayson Bubb, Lochlan Bubb and James Macdonald represented the Wolfpack in the highly contested Under-18 exhibition match.
Teams were made up of Wolfpack, Knights and Storm Junior players and demonstrated the up and coming talent in the region.
A courageous Wolfpack Women’s League Tag team took to the field against an undefeated Tumbarumba side despite being unable to field a full team and playing one short.
The Women’s Wolfpack struggled without an interchange bench, but gave it their all to close the gap on the field.
Captain, Maree Oddy, said the scorelines didn’t reflect the efforts the Wolfpack put in.
Tumbarumba were ultimately victorious in continuing their winning streak, with the Benalla Wolfpack Women’s going down 34 to 6 at the final siren.
An injury stricken and undermanned Wolfpack Senior Men’s team then took on the competition leader and defending champions, Tumbarumba, with all their might.
The Wolfpack made the seasoned Tumbarumba side work hard for their win, keeping them scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the game.
Despite their best defensive efforts, the Wolfpack was unable to halt Tumbarumba’s lead, going down 14-48 at the final siren.
Speaking after the game, Hayden Mcintosh made mention of the heart and courage demonstrated by Wolfpack’s youngest player, Grayson Bubb, continually going up against Tumbarumba’s biggest players.
‘‘The smallest bloke out there had the biggest heart today, boys,’’ Mcintosh said.
Bubb also secured his first try of the season in his first game for the Wolfpack Senior team after a superb offload by Newy Patiole saw him cross the line late in the second half of the game.
While the entire Wolfpack team deserved to receive Best and Fairest points for their efforts put in on the day, Wolfpack President, Wade Splitty said one point was given to Callum Johnson for keeping the best centre in the league under wraps, two points were given to Grayson Bubb for his stellar defence, and three points were given to Haydon Mcintosh for being ‘‘a straight up animal’’ and slowing down the Tumbarumba attack all day.
All teams have a bye this weekend due to the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Benalla will be ready to take on the Wodonga Wombats at Baranduda Reserve, on June 16.