Former NRL winger David Nofoaluma bagged a double as the Glebe Dirty Reds secured the Ron Massey Cup over the Wentworthville Magpies 19-6 in the 2024 Grand Final.
A feeder club of the Sydney Roosters, the victory saw the Dirty Reds capture their first Cup, while it was another year of heartbreak for the Magpies, having lost the Grand Final in 2023 as well.
Previously playing in the NRL for the Wests Tigers and Melbourne Storm, Nofoaluma stood up on the big stage with tries in the 48th and 76th minute of the match.
Nofoaluma isn't the only former NRL player competing in the Dirty Reds. The team also includes Dean Whare, Craig Garvey, and Kane Evans - Evans played a big role in guiding them into the finals but didn't play in the Grand Final due to injury.
โI played 11 years of my NRL career here so it's still part of me โ I have a lot of history here,โ Nofoaluma told nswrl.com.auย after the win.
โTo be able to come here and play a grand final with Glebe Dirty Reds, we all had something individual to play for.
"The thing I like about this group is that each player, especially the young ones, were keen to learn off us experience players.
โThey ask questions and that's what you want. We all did this as a team.โ
Working hard in defence throughout the match, the Dirty Reds kept their opponents scoreless until the 57th minute.
In attack, it only took them under ten minutes to open the scoring through centre Vito Tevaga. It seemed that Ethyn Martin also crossed the line but was unable to ground the ball cleanly.
As the match could have gone either way, Dean Whare and David Nofoaluma stood up, showing their experience as fullback Jade Anderson to home the Player of the Match honours.
โOur defence won it and we've not been renowned for that since we've been such a good attacking side for the past six weeks or so. And just the belief โ the boys wanted to win this so much โ it's history right here," coach Aaron Zammit added.
