A premiership win at age 39 would be enough to see most ride off into the sunset, but Phil Stonham refused to rule out defending the Queanbeyan Blues' reserve grade crown next year.
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The Blues avenged last year's defeat with a 34-16 win over the Tuggeranong Bushrangers at Seiffert Oval on Sunday.
Stonham's willingness to play on was no surprise after his father played rugby union until the ripe old age of 47 – but the Blues veteran insisted he wouldn't play on that long.
The win took Stonham to "seven or eight" premierships with the Blues – he's lost count.
One number he is sure of is the amount of times he has retired – three.
"Maybe one more [year], I might play until I'm 40," Stonham said.
"It's been a bit of a blur the last 20 years."
Stonham was named man of the match as the Blues clinched their third reserve grade premiership in five years after overcoming a lacklustre start to the season.
"We were getting no one to training," Stonham said. "When we played Goulburn [in round 12] we had a talk, and everyone just sort of came together after that and thought 'we'll do our best', and here we are."
Meanwhile, the Belconnen United Sharks have set up a "Super Bowl" date with the George Tooke Shield's Harden Hawkettes after a 20-4 win over Tuggeranong in the ladies' league tag grand final.
Tuggeranong clinched the under-18s title with a slender 16-12 victory over West Belconnen.
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP GRAND FINALS
Reserve Grade: QUEANBEYAN BLUES 34 (Sevu Camaivuna, Jarrod Lenihan, Todd Jamieson, Ilaisa Ngata, Luiaki Ahovisi, Josh Stuckey tries; Samiuela Taholo 3, Franz Skeen 2 goals) bt TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 16 (Aaron Wilkins, Jack Bramley, Robert Sheffield tries; Michael O'Malveney 2 goals).
Ladies League Tag: BELCONNEN UNITED SHARKS 20 (Faith Cooper, Jessica Abel, Sarah Carter, Madelaine Shevlin tries; Shevlin 2 goals) bt TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 4 (Cailah Welch try).
Under 18s: TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 16 (Chris Shingles, Liam Oakley, Joel Knight tries; Jack Heyman 2 goals) bt WEST BELCONNEN WARRIORS 12 (K Jensen, Kayne Laundess tries; Lachlan Keeley 2 goals).
