A look at Group 3 grand final day

The Pirates accounted for Port Sharks 22-10 in the decider to claim the club's first title this century.

Old Bar's previous wins were in the Group Three Saturday League in 1994 and Group Three in 1996 and 1999. All those competitions largely involved clubs from the Manning and Forster-Tuncurry areas.

Group Three now includes the two powerhouse Port Macquarie clubs, Port City and Port Sharks, the usually strong Wauchope and the always-competitive Macleay Valley. To indicate how tough it has been for southern clubs to succeed, Old Bar is the first southern club to claim a premiership since Forster-Tuncurry in 2011 and the first from the Manning since Taree City in 2007.

The club's decision to go off-shore this year to boost the roster paid dividends on grand final day. They signed Emmanuel Soli, John Stanley, Dave Arons and Shane Nigel from Papua New Guinea and Fijian Simon Wise. Soli and Wise both scored two tries in the grand final while Stanley added the last and that was set up by Wise, who must have gone close to earning the player of the match award.

The club will do everything possible to ensure all are back in 2024. Co-captain-coach Mick Henry said he hopes they're there for the next 10 years.

FOR many years the Manning River Times campaigned for Group Three Rugby League to switch kickoff times for under 18s and reserve grade during the finals series and playing the 18s as the main preliminary.

The argument we put forward was that the 18s is usually the best game on the day and would act as a perfect entrée for the main game. However, our pleas fell upon deaf ears at group-level. The group did relent in the opening fortnight of the semi finals circa 2007, but folded after pressure from one club.

Last Saturday's under 18 match featuring Port Sharks and Port City was a cracker, eventually won by the Sharks. The reserve grade game between Port City and Macleay Valley was, well, reserve grade.

What's more, the group is determined to play grand finals mid-September and on a hot day, as was the case last weekend, that means kicking off reserve grade at 1.30. That may not be healthy, given reserve graders aren't always renowned for their fitness levels.

It's hard to imagine too many reserve grade sides getting aggrieved about an earlier start. Now it's understood a couple of high profile group management committee members are in favour of the game switch. This is likely to be discussed at management level soon.

LEAGUE great Boyd Cordner had early start to Saturday.

He was in Melbourne with the Sydney Roosters on Friday night for the NRL elimination semi-final against Melbourne. Determined to get to Port Macquarie to assist the Pirates - he's a club junior and coaching consultant - Cordner boarded a flight in Melbourne at 6.30am and arrived at Port Macquarie Regional Stadium in plenty of time for the first grade clash. He spoke to the players before the match and at halftime.

Whatever he said must have worked.

He's been retired a couple of years now, but Cordner still has a high profile and willingly agreed to numerous requests for autographs and photos from spectators of all ages at the ground.

"Is that Boyd Cordner?" a wide-eyed youngster asked the every-affable Old Bar trainer, Rob Moorehead.

"Sure is, do you want to meet him,'' Rob replied.

The result was one very excited young fan.

It was something of a family reunion for Cordner as well. His cousin, Port News journalist Mardi Borg was at the game taking photos for the News and the MR Times. They met up during the day.

GRAND final day returned to the Port Stadium for the first time since 2018. It's a fair comment that previous grand final crowds at the stadium have been underwhelming.

However, Saturday's gate, which was a shade under $20,000, was by far the biggest at the venue.

The aforementioned Rob Moorehead, who lives at Port, went to the ground on Friday to assist officials in setting up the venue.

"We were finished in three-and-a-half hours,'' Rob reported.

"It took us three-and-a-half days last year at Old Bar.''

A purpose-built facility that can be used by all codes remains a dream in the Manning Valley.

One senior group official would like to see all grand finals played at Port Stadium, regardless of the teams involved in first grade. It's unlikely to get the required support in clubland though.

THE Port Sharks and Port City Breakers will be major players in Group Three for years to come, going on the talent on display in the under 18 clash.

The Sharks won a tremendous match 28-12, although the final score doesn't do the Breakers justice, as they were in the game until the final 10 minutes.

There were plenty of potential first graders on display in both teams. Sharks first grade coach Matt Hogan said he's excited at the talent coming through the ranks.

Hogan was gracious in defeat, saying the Pirates were the best team all season and were deserved premiers. At least one NRL coach could take a lesson from Hogan in how to cop a loss.

He added that getting to the grand final was a mighty accomplishment from his players.

Hogan indicated he hopes to stay on board as coach in 2024. He took the reins for the first time this year.

OLD Bar co-coach Mick Henry was guarded about his playing future when questioned on Friday's On The Bench segment.

He did indicate that he wasn't keen to coach again, having had the gig for the past three seasons, although playing remains an option. This was his first winning grand final with the Pirates, having lost previously in 2013 and last year. He won an under 18 premiership back in 2010.

Henry had a fine game, as did co-captain-coach Jordan Worboys, who was named player of the match.

On The Bench, the weekly, um, whatever it is, that features on the MR Times Facebook page each Friday also finished with a bang, with one of the biggest responses for the year.

Meanwhile, the Group Three season will conclude officially with the presentation at the Wingham Services Club on Friday night.