PORT City Breakers' second rower Matt Woods faces a nervous wait to see if he'll face charges from the match review committee after a dramatic Group 3 preliminary final on Sunday.
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Woods was sent from the field in the closing stages of his 150th match, which the Breakers won 28-18 over Forster Tuncurry Hawks.
In the process, they locked in a massive grand final against Port Macquarie Sharks next weekend at Regional Stadium.
The Breakers kept the Hawks in the contest for longer than they would have liked on Sunday. Handling errors and discipline problems which had been just below the surface for the whole game came to the fore as the rain tumbled down in the second half.
They did their fair share of defending though, and only let Forster Tuncurry in for one try in the second 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, they scored 16 points, with tries to Richie Roberts, Tom Dooker and Mitch Fowler.
They went with four pointers in the first half to Trae Clark and Roberts.
Clark's try came in just the second minute of play. The Hawks booted the kick off out on the full and Breakers took full advantage.
He strolled over in the first play of the game.
It wasn't a perfect display from the Breakers, but at least that gives captain Adrian Daley and coach Ben Sprague something to work on ahead of the big game against the Sharks.
"It was a bit scrappy," Daley said.
He was thrilled with his team's effort.
"I can't ask for anything better," Daley said.
He knows the team can't make as many mistakes against the Sharks if they want to be competitive in the final.
Daley knows the Sharks will be tough to beat in the big match.
"They'll be pumped for the grand final, but so will we," he said.
A fresh injury concern could worry the Breakers this week. Ethan Hyde hurt an ankle in the closing stages of Sunday's final.
He couldn't put any weight on the foot at the end of the game.
Daley hoped Hyde would come good. He also would like Woods in the side, who was dismissed after playing a part in a dangerous tackle.
Daley said he didn't think there was much in the Woods incident.