The Perth Spirit claimed the NRC title by upsetting the minor premiers, NSW Country Eagles 20-16 at Scully Park in Tamworth on Saturday.
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The match was scoreless after half an hour, but it was the visitors who scored twice in the form of Luke Morahan and Ryan Louwrens.
The half-time score was 12-8 when Sam Figg hit back just before the break.
It was in the second half where the Spirit dug in with a superb defensive effort, which repelled all of the Eagles’ attacks.
To make the Spirits defensive effort all the more impressive, the visitors spent 20 minutes of the second half with 14 men. Spirit Flanker Richard Hardwick won the inaugural Phil Waugh medal for his man of the match performance. Having hosted the clash at Tamworth, the NSW Country Eagles will bring all of their 2017 fixtures to rural areas next season.
