The Colts ran out six-point winners at Denman Oval on Sunday in the Group 21 grand final replay from last season.

It was a brave performance from Greta Branxton who played the final 10 minutes with 12 players after Adam Stinson was sent to the sin bin.

The Colts held off the reigning premiers thanks to some heroic defending.

Coach Ron Griffiths said he was proud of his team’s defensive effort.

“To be down to 12 players and no concede any points in that last 10 ­minutes was a huge effort,” he said.

“We are much fitter than other sides at this stage of the season and we saw that in our first game as well.”

Griffiths brought in Josh Day as the club strength and conditioning coach in the off season, a decision that is already paying dividends.

“Josh has done a great job with the boys,” he said.

“The benefits of having him and the work he’s done we can already see.

“We’ve focused on attitude and we’ve seen a big change which is great.”

Greta Branxton trailed 12-8 at halftime and was not in front at any stage of the game until the final 12 minutes.

Griffiths said he was pleased with the result, but still saw plenty of improvement in his team.

“We were never in control of the game until that last period,” he said.

“We seemed to be defending for long periods of time and the game was played through the middle by both sides.

“We’ve got some work to do, our attack was pretty disjointed at times, but defensively we were pretty good.”

Greta Branxton opened the campaign with a 30-16 win over Aberdeen before a wash out in round two against Singleton.

The Colts will travel to Olympic Park to take on Muswellbrook in round four on Sunday.