Orange Thunder has gone from an "easy win" to one of the most feared teams in the state according to representative director Wayne Hill.
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Hill coached the Thunder side to a Vawdon Youth Cup grand final victory on Sunday (November 5), capping off a near-perfect season by defeating Hills Hornets 9-6 at Canterbury Velodrome.
In losing just once all year and defeating perennial champions Hornets three times, Hill said Orange had made a statement to the rest of NSW.
"People now look at Orange and get worried they have to play us," he said.
![The victoriois Orange Thunder grand final team. Back (L-R): Lachie Lawson, Rowdy Roberts, Zeik Selwood, Taj Jordan, Jye Spurr, Bailey Gardiner, Phoenix Zinga, Wayne Hill (coach), Seb Klein, Tamaiti Puata. Front (L-R): Will Robinson, Ravai Tulevu, Sam Hill, Azarriah Ah See, Jock Selwood, Chayse King, Jackson Hill (assistant coach). Picture supplied The victoriois Orange Thunder grand final team. Back (L-R): Lachie Lawson, Rowdy Roberts, Zeik Selwood, Taj Jordan, Jye Spurr, Bailey Gardiner, Phoenix Zinga, Wayne Hill (coach), Seb Klein, Tamaiti Puata. Front (L-R): Will Robinson, Ravai Tulevu, Sam Hill, Azarriah Ah See, Jock Selwood, Chayse King, Jackson Hill (assistant coach). Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/131358433/5d1cf5ca-1148-433c-9a62-28a49d9a0cc5.jpg/r403_1305_2684_2907_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We're no longer an easy win. People used to look at Orange and think 'here's an easy win for us', a bit of for and against.
"But nowadays people are looking at the draw and thinking 'geez we don't want to be on Orange's side of the draw'.
"Hills Hornets are a powerhouse of NSW Touch Football and to be able to beat them three times in one year speaks volumes on where Orange touch is at.
"We have great development and a number of these kids are going to go into our men's 20s team for the State Cup."
Vawdon Cup is a Sydney-based competition featuring the top associations. Thunder finished atop the ladder, winning eight and losing just one game on their way to the decider.
Sam Hill was named player of the grand final with dad Wayne proudly watching on, albeit a bit nervously.
"It was a fantastic result," he said.
"The boys played so well, we worked on a couple of things from last week we thought we'd need to get over the top of Hills and it paved the way for a great win.
"I usually don't get nervous but I have to admit I was a bit before kick-off and during the game. We got out to a bit of a lead but then it was 5-4 at half-time before we got a couple of paved the way for a win.
"Sam played really well, a deserved player of the match but there were a couple of others who went pretty close as well.
"Taj Jordan scored three tries and Tamaiti Puata played his best game all year after coming back from an ankle injury.
"Rowdy Roberts was also voted players' player for the whole season."
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