Words by Tim Donlan

As Brisbane City celebrate winning the inaugural Buildcorp National Rugby Championship after their hard fought battle against the Perth Spirit, we take a look back at the success and opportunities the Buildcorp NRC has brought to rugby in Australia.

What an inaugural season it was. With nine brand new teams, novel law variations, Wallabies and Super Rugby stars taking to the field alongside a bevy of unearthed talent, we were captivated from the very first whistle. The NRC emulated everything spectators look for in a high-quality rugby game. Fast paced, free flowing and plenty of tries.

A total of 357 tries were scored within the tournament’s total 39 matches, which, on average, is about 9.2 tries per game. 65, 473 spectators attended matches across the regular season to see the spectacular rugby being played.

It was fitting that Brisbane City took out the Grand Final as they also registered the first ever win in the competition against the Sydney Stars way back in round one, also under lights at Ballymore.

The Melbourne Rising had been the form team of the competition, before stumbling in their semi-final against the Perth Spirit. After recording eight wins from eight games and earning a winning bonus point in each game, the Rising had finished the regular season with the maximum 40 points on the ladder.

The surprise packet of the competition were the NSW Country Eagles. A relatively unknown side, the team consisted of Super Rugby players, members of the Randwick and Eastern Suburbs Clubs and NSW country-based players. Together they became a real threat within the competition. Finishing second on the ladder, and losing narrowly in their semi-final encounter against eventual winners Brisbane City, the boys from the NSW bush ignored the underdog tag, displaying some of the most exciting rugby seen in the competition.

Arguably the most disappointed team would be the University of Canberra Vikings. Littered with regular Brumbies, and with some of the best emerging talent from the nation’s capital, the Vikings were never able to reach their full potential, recording just two wins from their eight games and finishing sixth on the ladder.

The NRC was designed to establish and identify upcoming talent, whilst bridging the gap from state Club competitions and Super Rugby. The competition saw many young players take that next step towards professional rugby with consistent outstanding performances.

Top Point Scorer was taken out by Melbourne Rising five-eighth, Jack Debreczeni. Jack tallied 144 points for the Rising, 56 more than the runner-up, NSW Country Eagles play-maker Sam Windsor. Jack seemed to enjoy his taste of Super Rugby with the Rebels this year, after recently re-signing with the team until the end of 2017. The way he directed the Rising around the field shows Jack is a player to look out for in the future.

Finding his way to the top of another try scoring list was NSW Country Eagles winger, Andrew Kellaway. The 19-year-old flyer finished the competition with a total of nine tries under his belt, one ahead of the Rising’s, Telusa Veainu. Andrew had a remarkable season in 2014. In only his first year out of school he made his first grade debut for Randwick and represented the Australian U/20s at the Junior World Championships, where he broke the record for most tries at the competition (10). With his performances during the NRC, Andrew is well on his way to becoming a household name in Australian rugby.

Having 357 tries to choose from, it was hard to pick just one for try of the season. Two of our favourites however came from NSW Country Eagles' Ed Stubbs and North Harbour Rays' Dave Feltscheer. Both of these tries came from the same game.

Ed Stubbs' try saw a clever kick-pass from number eight, Steve Hoiles to flying winger, Andrew Kellaway. Kellaway drew in the final Rays' defender and Stubbs was able to outpace the Rays' cover defence to run 30 metres and score close to the uprights.

Feltscheer’s try was more of an individual effort. Receiving the ball after a quick lineout and a long pass from Cam Crawford, Feltscheer got the ball on the halfway line and took off. After breaking one tackle, Feltscheer cut back inside, dummied then fended off an Eagles player before out-running their chasing defence in the last 20 metres to score under the sticks.

We would like to congratulate all players involved in the inaugural Buildcorp NRC, who entertained us from the very first minute. We look forward to seeing the next steps for the future talent the tournament has successfully produced.