Rebels’ Spirit Shines Through Despite Heavy Defeat

By Tim Howard

The strengths and frailties of the South Grafton Rebels in 2026 were on full display in their final home game of the season, a courageous 44-28 loss to Woolgoolga.

It has not been a happy season for the Rebels, who will collect the Group 2 Rugby League wooden spoon.

Normally this sort of scoreline indicates a one-sided contest – and in some ways it was – but the Rebels never threw in the towel.

They made some appalling errors. Twice they failed to find touch from penalty kicks. They kicked the ball dead from the kick-off, were in front of the kicker at another kick-off, captain-coach Todd Cameron was sent off for a high tackle and there were endless handling errors when a score looked likely.

But you have to admire the Rebels’ spirit.

Midway through the second half, they were 38-12 down and had not scored a point since half-time.

Then veteran back-rower Grant Brown turned back the clock with a dazzling chip ahead from 50m out, which he regathered.

The Woolgoolga defence scrambled to cover, but on the next play Nick McGrady kicked again, finding space behind the defenders for centre Sam Petch to leap high and grab the ball.

It spilled back, and the referee awarded six more tackles.

But Petch did not need them. He took the first pass and strolled between a couple of rattled defenders to score.

Soon after, some shoddy defence handed Woolgoolga five-eighth Ethan Duncombe a try, but again the Rebels retaliated.

This time, lanky back-rower Nick Torrens grabbed a pass 15m from the line and could not be stopped.

He fended off the first tackler, crashed into fullback Dane O’Hehir and stretched out his arm to plant the ball on the line beneath the posts.

And in the final play of the game, after some great lead-up play, McGrady floated a long pass to the right wing, where Jack Fels hit the ball at speed and dashed into the corner to score.

Fittingly, Brown nailed the sideline conversion to give the Rebels 28 points for the game.

Of course, it was meaningless for the Rebels, but it was magnificent never-say-die competitiveness.

That spirit kept the Rebels in the game in the first half.

Woolgoolga scored first after eight minutes when winger Cody Major crossed after big centre Jasper Louden flicked a pass to him in the tackle.

Almost immediately the Rebels hit back in their first raid on the Woolgoolga line.

It was ad-lib stuff. On the last play of a set pounding at the line, Petch kicked ahead, but it hit the leg of a defender and bounced to McGrady.

He tried another kick, which ricocheted clear of a couple of defenders, and Fels pounced on the ball in the in-goal to score.

Brown’s successful conversion put the Rebels in front 6-4, but their lead was short-lived.

A contentious knock-on call, when McGrady appeared to charge down a kick from centre Shayde Perham, gave the Seahorses valuable possession near the Rebels’ line.

A few plays later, big prop Dylan Murdoch made them pay, crashing over beneath the posts to put his team back in front 10-6 after Louden’s conversion.

The Rebels were given a gift with 15 minutes to go when Perham was sin-binned for a high tackle on Torrens, but instead it was Woolgoolga who scored next.

Inside the final 10 minutes of the half, the Rebels defended multiple sets on their line before Louden got the ball close to the line and bustled through some tired tacklers to score.

But the Rebels had the final say before the break, when a delightful play close to the line put Petch in for his first try of the game.

McGrady took the first pass from the ruck and fired the ball across the face of a charging Torrens, who attracted the defence.

Instead, the pass came low to Petch, who held on and sprinted across to score.

At 14-12, the game was in the balance, but the opening 20 minutes of the second half belonged to Woolgoolga.

At first, they soaked up some solid attacks from the Rebels, whose inability to hold onto the ball when a try beckoned had been a problem all season.

Woolgoolga showed them how to seize an opportunity the first time they ventured into attacking territory.

With the Rebels’ defensive line back-pedalling, hooker Jax Fuller threw a dummy and accelerated into the clear.

He drew the fullback before sending halfback Michael Hart sprinting to the tryline.

Another try followed a few minutes later, extending Woolgoolga’s lead to 24-12, but a double send-off a few minutes later proved a crucial moment in the game.

Woolgoolga were on the attack when Louden took a pass and cut back inside the normally reliable Cameron, who flung out his right arm and caught the centre across the head.

He immediately signalled his mistake and moved to check on Louden. But Shayde Perham charged in, sparking a melee.

The referee had little choice. He sent Cameron off for the high shot and then Perham for his reckless intervention.

Without their inspirational leader, the Rebels’ defence looked spent and the visitors quickly piled on the points with Fuller, Duncombe and winger Sharne Perham scoring tries.

It looked as though another 50-point defeat was looming until the Rebels dug in and produced a final 15 minutes that gave the home fans something to remember.