Saturday marked the high point of the Dutch rugby league calendar with both the Annual General Meeting and the Grand Final. The day started off with a well attended AGM where several new board members where instated and members of all Dutch clubs had a lively discussion about the plans for the coming years and the administrative side of the things. So much so that several people had to leave early in order not to miss the curtain raiser, between newcomers Harderwijk Dolphins and the Amsterdam Cobras.
The game was an exciting one. The Dolphins lead 28-6 at half time but the Cobras launched an impressive comeback after the break. The Dolphins had some tense moments but were relieved to hold on long enough to claim their first victory: 32-28.
The Grand Final was played between last year’s strongest team, the Den Haag Knights, and the Rotterdam Pitbulls, who were unbeaten during the whole of the 2016 season. The first half was evenly matched with some good structured attack from both sides and strong defence. The Pitbulls were the first to strike to take a 6-0 lead after 8 minutes. The Knights lost their hooker Chris Peponis to injury just after this. This however only seemed to fire up the Knights who soon equalized and took a 12-6 lead a few minutes later. Just before the break the Pitbulls came back and the 12-12 scoreline was a fair representation of a tense battle.
After the break Rotterdam was able to build momentum. Several unanswered tries where scored and the team showed why they were unbeaten all season. The Knight had the last word and just before the final whistle they scored to make the final score 42-16.
“I want to give the Den Haag Knights a big compliment for a great game and we all wish Chris a speedy recovery,” said Rotterdam Pitbulls chairman Jason Bruygoms. “We also want to thank the Amsterdam Cobras, the NRLB and the match officials for a great season. We look forward to the 2017 season where we will all meet again along with the new comers the Harderwijk Dolphins. Great to see the sport of rugby league starting to grow.”
Rotterdam Pitbulls 42
Jededaih Timisela, Thijs van der Zouwen, Evert van Boschove, Tim Bergonje, Leslie Heron, Auke Idzerda, Uri Breman, Emerson de Werk, Jason Bruygoms, Daniel van Waas, Taco de Boer, Sjoerd Dijkshoorn, Patrick Funk. Subs: Edson Neves, Wouter Naloop, Jorge Vazquez, Gijs Braanker
Tries: Idzerda (4), Bergonje (37), Neves (41), Bruygoms (46), van der Zouwen (60), van Boschove (63), Timisela (67), Naloop (76). Goals: Breman 5
Den Haag Knights 16
Matthew Rigby, Roelof Pier, Bonne Wilce, Jordan Swensson, Patrick Neuteboom, Scott Thomson, Joe Storm, Chris Peponis, Frank Longhurst, Mattieu Binder, Emal Sarwal, Vincent Edelkoort, Lucas Quentin. Sub: Thomas Farrell.
Tries: Farrell (20, 79), Rigby (29). Goals: Farrell 2