It's been a season of opposites for these two clubs. Canberra, winners in last year's competition, have enjoyed a season as good (if not better) than that of last season. On the other hand, Wagga have performed a football miracle to turn last season's wooden spoon into second place in the hotly contested Peter Sterling Division. Today's game, underdog vs. heavy favourite, would decide whether or not Wagga can consider themselves contenders.

Wagga Badgers Canberra Chargers
1 David Simmons 1 Matt Hilder
2 Christian Walker © 2 Scott Donald
3 Sam Speedy 3 Christophe Lamaison
4 Mirco Bergamasco 4 Paul Whatuira
5 James Rowles 5 Nathan Smith
6 Jamie Fitzgerald 6 Matthew Gafa
7 Stefano Saghini 7 Sean Towers
8 Fabian Devichi 8 Isaac Ah Mau
9 Smeds Stahl 9 Michael Monaghan
10 Daniel Lemu 10 Mark Tookey
11 Marlon Steele 11 Michael Smith ©
12 Jon Wilkin 12 Gareth Carvell
13 Sam Payne 13 Ryan Hudson
++Interchange
14 Mixie Lui 14 Brandon Costin
15 Rachid Hechiche 15 Casey Macguire
16 Tobias Jones 16 Chris McKenna
17 Demiti Pelovski 17 Matt Henjak

If Canberra fans were expecting the inexperienced Wagga outfit to roll over in the opening exchanges, they were sadly mistaken. Even Canberra's world class halves pairing didn't find the going as 'easy' as they'd have liked, with some enthusiastic Wagga defence shutting down Sean Towers effectively. More than that, Wagga's 'no frills' forward pack made some powerful metres in the opening five minutes, Jon Wilkin and Sam Payne looking fired up against a substantially weakened Canberra front row.

With such a frenetic opening period, it was never going to take long for points to come, and fittingly they went to the home side- Christian Walker skipping down the touchline after a bullet pass from an unlikely player, Jon Wilkin. Walker was able to run it around under the posts, and Rowles converted duly to give the Badgers a handy 6-0 lead after nine minutes of play. Many had claimed Wagga's opening would rule their fortunes, and openings don't come much more emphatic than a try.

If one try was an ideal start, Wagga fans must have had to rub their eyes in disbelief when Jon Wilkin stuck it to Canberra again from the kick-off, the unknown forward making big metres to put the home side right back on the attack. This time it was Marlon Steele who reaped the rewards of Wilkin's good work, barging his way over despite the attention of Isaac Ah Mau and Matt Gafa. Rowles proved unequal to the task of converting, but the Badgers were looking pumped up as early 10-0 leaders.

The early deficit, unfamiliar territory for the Chargers, saw some mongrel creep into their play. Several fights at around the twenty minute mark marred the first half, with Michael Monaghan earning himself a ten minute stint in the bin after back-chatting to the referee. The one man advantage didn't pay dividends for Wagga however, with Canberra instead lifting their intensity to compensate for their hooker's absence. A disallowed try in the 23rd minute was the rumble before the storm, with Ryan Hudson rampaging his way across the line only two minutes later. Sean Towers made an uncharacteristic miss, but the Chargers were well and truly back in the game at 10-4 down.

The ledger was even just three minutes later, with the Chargers' inexperienced pack bashing some humility into Wagga and laying on a second try, Matt Hilder completing an ominous eighty eight metre movement with a powerful try from dummy half. In the space of five minutes, and with a man out, the Chargers had grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck and put themselves right back in it, locked at 10 all with ten minutes remaining in the first half. James Rowles put Wagga back in front in the 31st minute with a penalty for holding the player down, before Jon Wilkin again asserted his authority on the game in the 36th minute. The unassuming back-rower ran onto the tap from Jamie Fitzgerald, made a bollocking twenty nine metre run, and then timed a perfect offload to put David Simmons in under the sticks. Wilkin, a relative no name in many people's books, had just created his side's third try- and Rowles' conversion saw the home side take a handy 18-10 lead as the halftime siren sounded.

HALFTIME: Wagga 18 lead Canberra 10

The second half didn't live up to the standard set in the frantic first half initially, with both sides guilty of making stupid errors as they sought to blow the game open. Even Sean Towers, this year's Dally M winner in Division Two, was guilty of brain explosions- throwing a blatant forward pass when the Chargers had a promising three on two overlap. The real difference between the two sides came to defensive intensity, with Canberra's 2004 grand final appearance giving them the edge on their line. After repelling another Wagga attack, Canberra launched one of their own through Scott Donald, who used his speed to race away down the sideline after an overlap was created. Whilst Christian Walker was able to drag down the pacy winger, it put the Chargers in good field position, and Ryan Hudson wrestled his way across to snare his second try of the match. Sean Towers made no mistake with the conversion, and the fans were on their feet as it went to 18-16.

Ill discipline continued to prove Canberra's greatest weakness as the half wound on, another Rowles' penalty in the 53rd giving Wagga a 20-16 lead. A fight broke out not long after, and whilst Jamie Fitzgerald was cautioned, Sean Towers brought it back to two with a penalty goal of his own.

In the 59th, Canberra hit the lead for the first time in the match, capitalising on some lazy marker defence from the Badgers before Matt Gafa danced and jinked his way across the line to score a relatively soft try beneath the sticks. Sean Towers converted to put his side four ahead, and the Chargers looked in control at 24-20. The football became frantic as a result of the Gafa try, with both sides knowing the next try could very well seal the game. Whilst Wagga seemed to enjoy the pressure, the Chargers looked tired and out-enthused. Consecutive sets of six in the 70th minute looked likely to break Canberra's back, before Scott Donald latched onto an errant James Rowles pass and raced away to score the softest of intercept tries. The video referee was called in, and Wagga fans watched on as their season hung in the balance. Replays seemed to favour the Canberra cause, before Bill Harrigan was able to find a knock-on as Donald grounded the ball. The Canberra winner was distraught, realising that the missed opportunity could very well cost his side the game.

It took Wagga just two and a half minutes to make Donald truly regret his actions, Marlon Steele making a big bust down the middle before offloading to the support of Sam Payne, who was named rookie of the year earlier this week. The gifted young lock showed some toe to outpace Matthew Gafa, and planted it beneath the posts to ensure Rowles would capture his side the lead. Capture it he did, and with six minutes remaining, the Badgers held a slender 26-24 lead.

Canberra's enthusiasm manifested itself in the form of 'biff' from the kick-off, and whilst Isaac Ah Mau was lucky to escape without a sin-binning, James Rowles made Canberra pay when he nailed a long distance conversion to put his side up by four. Canberra tried courageously to snare a match-winner, but Wagga showed their premiership credentials- continually fending off raids with committed and enthusiastic scrambling defence. The fulltime siren sounded with Canberra in possession, but a sloppy Sean Towers' bomb on fulltime did nothing to trouble Wagga's lead.

FULLTIME

Wagga Badgers 28
David Simmons
Marlon Steele
Christian Walker
Sam Payne
Rowles 6/7

defeated

Canberra Chargers 24
Matt Hilder
Matt Gafa
Ryan Hudson 2
Towers 4/5

PoM Points
Jon Wilkin..................3
David Simmons..........2
Ryan Hudson..............1

For BBC World Service, BBC Sport's Dave Woods, transcript of him interviewing Wagga Badgers' coach Theo Kamis on the sidelines, immediately after the game:

Woods: That was too close for my comfort - what in the world were you thinking as the siren sounded?

Kamis: All those so-called "unconvincing" wins we had earlier in the season - the reason I didn't mind them was for just this type of a situation. The playoffs are never easy, no matter whether you're favoured or not - and in most cases, they're going to be damned close games. So, by having close finishes during the season, even though the games in which we did have close finishes perhaps should have been laughers, they gave us all an idea of what to expect...

Woods: Wilkin really put on a show tonight...

Kamis: That he did, all trumps. We did not have a single player this season score more than nine tries - that tells just how much of a team they've become. Jamie (Rooney) was telling Jon to look sharp, because he was going to be important to our success tonight. Boy, was he dead on...

Woods: A shuffled lineup, with Rooney and McMillan out - yet you weren't worried at all...

Kamis: Why should I be? Fabien (Devici) stepped into McMillan's spot at eight, and showed me he's almost all the way back from his massive injury earlier in the season. He's been not getting the playing time he was before the injury, but I told him that he had to be ready. I called on him, and he was...

...and Stefano Saghini was caught in the numbers game all season long, yet he's been totally professional about things, and delivered when I've put him in - and he did again tonight. Then, there was Demiti Pelovski - he's been most patient lately, as he's basically been asked to run the scout side in practice, and has gotten almost no playing time - not even in the interchange. Tonight, he played within himself, instead of trying too hard and making silly errors...

Woods: Alright then - you've either a trip to Tamworth City or Newcastle coming up next - your thoughts?

Kamis: Either is going to be a right handful. But, given that we've beaten Canberra twice this season now, I am confident that we'll be in with a good chance to win if we play as well as we did tonight, no matter whom we play next...

$20,000 for the post match thoughts. Cheers for that, Theo. Makes the effort of writing these all the more tolerable.

Oh Yeah that was just beautiful Chris will you have my babies I love you.

Brandell, accept the fact that you will never have children. The government has placed a ban on inbreeding, and that's your only chance. :P

...in Australia, perhaps...

...try Louisiana, however - several first cousins who got married there had their marriages exempted from the miscgenation laws ordinarily applied when they were found out :kicking: :kicking: :kicking: :kicking:

I might look into buying Randy a ticket to Louisiana for his 22nd birthday

And, I hate to admit it, but my grandparents were first cousins. Hadn't you ever wondered what was wrong with me? After they got divorced he tried to marry one of his other cousins.

Haha, that doesn't surprise me, it actually clears up a lot regarding to why people would willingly move to Emmaville. :P