Eastern Hornbills secure Grand Final spot

The Eastern Hornbills produced a clinical attacking performance to secure a convincing 44 – 14 victory over the Central Vipers and secure their spot in the 2026 SGNRL Championship Grand Final.

Driven by a hat-trick from winger Ronan Brar and double strikes from Nick Rapana, the Hornbills overran a spirited Vipers side in a high-scoring encounter.

The Hornbills established control in the opening period, laying the groundwork through tries to Ronan Brar, Nick Rapana, and Tee Liang Sheng. Central Vipers fought back before the break, crossing through Ishaan Sivasriaumphai and Fynn An Postlethwaite. A second touchdown from Postlethwaite and a conversion by Oliver Mckimmie briefly brought the Vipers level at 14 – 14 as the half closed out.

The second half was dominated by the Hornbills, who accelerated away with five unanswered tries. Ronan Brar kicked off the second-half scoring run to claim his hat-trick, with conversion support from David Price and Laeton Tauranga.

As momentum swung decisively in their favour, Nick Rapana crossed for his second of the match, followed by rapid-fire tries from Johnathan Betler, Dan Baeck, and Giles Raymond. Tauranga added a final conversion late in the contest to round out a dominant 44 – 14 win for the Hornbills.

EASTERN HORNBILLS 44
Tries: Ronan Brar (3), Nick Rapana (2), Tee Liang Sheng, Johnathan Betler, Dan Baeck, Giles Raymond
Goals: Laeton Tauranga (3), David Price
Squad: Dan Baeck, Quentin Andre, Takahito Saigo, Nathan Tricoche, Ronan Brar, Matthew Adam Williams, David Price, Olivier Decroix, Theo Cornu, Vincent Ng, Tee Liang Sheng, William Tan, Giles Raymond, Reuben Tangabi, Hamish Kelly, Nick Rapana, Laeton Tauranga, Johnathan Betler, Jeremiah Lee, Alan Castillo Lopez.
defeated CENTRAL VIPERS 14
Tries: Fynn An Postlethwaite (2), Ishaan Sivasriaumphai
Goals: Oliver McKimmie
Squad: Oliver McKimmie, Nathan Fu, Aloysius Tay, Ryan Tham, John Wong, Dane Gilmore, Bernard Wong, Tokelau Mawutu Akama, Alex Fuchs, Chris Wakeford, Fynn An Postlethwaite, Nicholas Lydon-Smith, Aathithya Jegatheesan, Davis Tan, Colyn Ng, Ito Ryo, Neil Best, Mohammed Faris, Tjaart van der Walt, Ishaan Sivasriaumphai.