Having come off the interchange bench in some matches and started at fullback in the absence of an injured Andrew Kellaway in other matches, Roberts expected to come on as a replacement in the second half of the decider.

But it wasn’t to be, as NSW Country chose to pick a centre on the interchange bench instead of Roberts considering one of the first-choice centres was under an injury cloud.

It was disappointing for Roberts, who had hoped to play in the decider at Scully Park as he considered it was “definitely a home game”.

NSW Country was mathematically a chance of winning the match until the final whistle blew with the Perth Spirit leading 20-16.

The Eagles had lost just once throughout the tournament while the Spirit had lost twice, but the contest that mattered the most proved vastly different from the round-robin match in which the Eagles defeated the Perth team 48-24 at Concord Oval.

The week before the decider, Perth’s 42-24 defeat of the Sydney Rays was a square-up after the Rays beat the Spirit 28-8 back in week two.

Coincidentally, the Spirit began their campaign with a 20-16 win over the Melbourne Rising before finishing with a victory by the same scoreline.

The lead-up to the decider involved the Wallaroos women’s rugby team and the third Bledisloe Cup Test being featured on the big screen at Scully Park, with the Black Ferns romping home 67-3 before the All Blacks triumphed 37-10.

The NRC decider was interestingly placed as there was no score for 30 minutes, although the Spirit clearly established dominance in the scrums.

Luke Morahan produced the opening try as the Perth fullback confused the defence before regaining his own grubber-kick.

The Spirit extended their lead before NSW Country flanker Sam Figg scored a vital five-pointer on the stroke of half-time to ensure the Eagles trailed just 12-8.

Perth moved out to a 12-point lead in the second half before NSW Country cut the margin back to four points with six minutes remaining. The crowd was on its feet in the dying minutes, as the Eagles hammered Perth’s tryline in search of a winning try.

The Spirit were not to be denied as they secured the prize after Brisbane City won the first two NRC titles and fell well short in its pursuit of a three-peat.

The Eagles missed prop Tom Robertson and hooker Tolu Latu for the decider due to their commitments with the Wallabies in Auckland, but there was little point speculating as to whether or not the Eagles would have won had they been available.

NSW Country had the ball for a lot of phases at various times, and Perth had a couple of players yellow-carded, but the Spirit forwards were excellent at the breakdown while their defence was rock solid and nearly impossible to penetrate.

As Eagles skipper Paddy Ryan said to the media afterwards: “It was like running into a brick wall all night.”

One of Perth’s forwards who played a decisive role was Jono Lance, who was last year’s player of the NRC competition as he played for the Eagles while Roberts was with the now-defunct Sydney Stars.