League Queensland - MAY 2016

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE: COREY PARKER MOSES MBYE ASH TAYLOR MIGHTY MEN OF MOUNT ISA

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CONTENT 4 : Corey Parker

- One Magic Moment

9 : Ash Taylor

“A Rare Talent”

11 : Moses Mbye “He’s Hot”

16 : Tui Kamikamica “Can Play”

23 : Gold Coast Masters 35 : Billy’s Buddies 40 : The Mighty Men of Mount Isa 44 : Men of League 50 : Rugby League Country Welcome to the first edition of “League Queensland” where we write about all things rugby league that happen in the various league competitions throughout our Sunshine State. I’ve been writing about the rugby league game for a few years now and feel that 2016 will be another good year in Queensland.

Our Queensland NRL teams dominated the competition in 2015 and there is nothing to indicate that won’t happen again in 2016. On the Intrust Super Cup front we have the reigning Australian champions in the Ipswich Jets while the Papua New Guinea Hunters and Townsville Blackhawks dominated that competition for much of the season. Kirwan High School from Townsville won the Australia-wide GIO Cup while at NRL level we reign supreme. Our Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys showed the teams below the border how the game should be played while Queensland, as well as being Origin champions, also won at Queensland Residents and Queensland Rangers level. Our women’s team led by Steph Hancock won their 17th consecutive game against NSW and our stars of the future won the Under 16’s and Under 18 titles. 2015 was a great year for Queensland Rugby League and 2016 will be a repeat session.

Finally, I’d like to make special mention of the support of ALM through their Cellarbrations, Thirsty Camel and Bottle-O franchises and the Brian Webb Group including CNW Electrical, Sherriff Electrical and Samios Plumbing Supplies for without their assistance this magazine would not be possible.

I hope you come along for the ride as we bring out our FREE “League Queensland” magazine each month.

Regards

Publisher: League Queensland is wholly owned by Tony and Carmel Price.

ABN: 1508728009 COPYRIGHT 2016 by Tony Price, all rights reserved.

Editor: Tony Price E: tony@leaguequeensland.com.au P: 0427 451 913 A: 34 Faust Street, Proserpine, Qld. 4800 Subeditor: Simon Price Information and Advertising: Carmel Price P: 0439 675 325 E: admin@eaguequeensland.com.au Graphic Art: Kassi Cartia E: kassi@kartiadesigns.com.au Printed by: Crystal Media T: 07 3356 0788 E: crystal@crystalmedia.com.au A: Unit 7/ 36 Windorah Street, Stafford, Qld. 4053 www.crystalmedia.com.au Digital version of this magazine will be available two weeks after printed release.

On the cover: Moses Mbye (Newspix), Glen Brown (contributed), Ryley Jacks (Ritchie Duce – Level Eleven Photography), Corey Parker (Newspix) Disclaimer: All material contained in this publication is subject to copyright and may not be reproduced, in part or in whole without written permission of the editor. Whilst the greatest care is taken to ensure that the information in the magazine is correct at the time of going to press, readers are advised to check latest information before visiting. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions.

As it is not possible to ensure that the advertisements which are published in this magazine comply with the Act the responsibility must, therefore, be on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisements for publication.

The views expressed within League Queensland are not necessarily the views of the publisher, but those of individual writers.

Tony Price, Editor

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One Magic

Moment COREY PARKER

COREY Parker is now the most capped forward in the history of rugby league and the 34-year-old puts his longevity down to one moment in a Brisbane hospital.

Parker broke Nathan Hindmarsh’s record for most games by a forward in the NRL (330) this month. It is an incredible feat for the lock forward who gets better with age.

Parker was a solid forward for the first decade of his career but a player who wasn’t a representative certainty let alone best lock in the competition.

Then something changed.

The birth of his child, daughter Memphis.

When Memphis arrived, Parker’s drive and ambition increased dramatically.

Suddenly, he was playing for Queensland again after a five year hiatus and debuting for the Kangaroos.

“There was a definitive moment for me. When we had our first child six years ago,” Parker said.

“I realised at that moment it wasn’t just me anymore. I had responsibility and accountability.

“That was a real motivating factor for me.

“I am now a father of four and I don’t want to let my family down. To play this long is special. When the dust settles and the curtains come down I will look back on it as something pretty amazing. Look at Jharal, an injury can take it away from you very quickly.”

Parker said he loved his job as a footballer which is why returning to the Origin fold for Queensland in 2011 meant so much to him.

“In 2004 and 2005 I played in two losing series and in 2006 they changed things up with the personnel and the staff and they went on a run and I had to bide my time,” Parker said.

“In 2011 I made it back there and played for Australia. I never wanted to let that go.

“The secret is I enjoy what I do.

“I treat it as my job. I want to be very good at my job and the older I have gotten I have changed how I prepare and how I manage my body.

“When it boils down, I don’t like letting people down and that drives me. If the people who are with you day in and day out respect you, that’s what matters.”

I hate that feeling… of letting someone down.”

Parker is one of just three current Brisbane players who have won a premiership. Parker, Darius Boyd and Sam Thaiday were part of the all-conquering 2006 Broncos team.

It is a feat they hope to repeat ten years later.

Queensland’s most capped forward, Corey Parker negotiating a peace settlement with New South Wales leader, Paul Gallen.

4Image: LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU Gregg Porteous/Newspix

- Bruce John

JASON TAUMALOLO ‘SIMPLY THE BEST FORWARD IN THE NRL’

JASON Taumalolo will gladly take the representative honours and hundreds of metres that appear on his stats sheet every weekend, but that is not the driving force behind his ominous start to 2016.

What is really making the Cowboys wrecking ball hit his straps is the upcoming State of Origin period, when Taumalolo knows he will have the responsibility of spearheading his team’s go forward while the likes of James Tamou and Matt Scott are away.

This year’s Origin series could strip the Cowboys of even more starters following consistent performances from Kyle Feldt and Ethan Lowe, with the pair outside chances to join club teammates and Origin incumbents Johnathan Thurston, Scott and Tamou in the Origin arena. No matter what happens come selection time, the Cowboys are sure to lose some significant strength, and that has been at the forefront of Taumalolo’s mind, not another cap for New Zealand come the ANZAC Test.

“Maybe when it gets a bit closer I’ll start thinking about it, but at the moment I’m just trying to help get the club get off to a good start to the season and hopefully lay a good platform for the Origin period,” Taumalolo said.

“Obviously the more wins we can get before the Origin period, the better.

“The close loss to the Broncos obviously lit a fire in the boys and I think that’s what the boys needed heading into the next part of the season.”

season for me personally, but I guess I still could be better in some areas,” he said.

“In saying that, it is the start of the season and I’ll see where I’m at in the next four-game period.”

What could really benefit Taumalolo this year, and in seasons to come, is the NRL’s reduced interchange. The former Kirwan State High School student has always been a strong finisher and is confident of reaping the rewards of playing more minutes, having worked tirelessly on his defensive efforts since making his first grade debut in year 12 - just two months after his 17th birthday.

“Other forward packs get fatigued and obviously we get fatigued too, so I think it comes down to who is willing to go that extra bit further,” Taumalolo said.

“Some teams are still trying to get used to the tactics of using their interchanges, and sometimes players are left out there a bit too long than they should be. That gives us opportunities as a forward pack to go over the top of them, and we’ve done that.

The change has been a big part of the competition.”

But Taumalolo believes he and his teammates are yet to play to their maximum potential under the new interchange set-up. “It doesn’t help when we can’t control the ball, so the big one for us is to hang on to the ball, complete our sets and just grind away to eventually take our opportunities,” he said.

“If we do that the rest will come. I’ve been lucky enough to rack up some big metres while I’m out there, and that’s laid the platform for boys like Johnno (Thurston), Morgo (Michael Morgan) and (Lachlan) Coote to do their thing.

“I’ll be looking to do that every weekend if I can, and if I can’t then I’m sure Jimmy (Tamou) or Matt Scott will step up to the plate.”

Maintain his current form and Taumalolo should be a walk-in for the Kiwi Test team, but as always, Taumalolo speaks humbly when asked about his Test prospects.

“Like every year I have to be playing my way in, especially with guys like Martin Taupau and Simon Mannering, who are always playing good footy,” he said.

“It will be a big question to see who plays that lock position, but at the moment I’m more focused on my club.”

“I’m sure the boys will be looking to close out games when the opportunity arises, so that will be a big one for us over the next four weeks.”

Last year’s Origin period helped define the Cowboys’ premiership run. The Cowboys have usually lost more games than they have won when their Origin stars are battling for the Blues and Maroons, but not last season.

They went unbeaten in the two games they played without their entire compliment of Origin players, beating the West Tigers 8-0 at Leichardt Oval before edging past St George-Illawarra 18-12 in Wollongong.

Having Taumalolo firing on all cylinders would bring obvious benefits to North Queensland during Origin time, as it does any other time of the season.

Taumalolo, 22, enjoyed his most consistent season last year to win the Dally M lock of the year, and he produced 178 metres and 30 tackles in an error-free performance during last year’s grand final.

By all appearances Taumalolo has started season 2016 by picking up from where he has left off, averaging 163m up to Round 6, but Taumalolo is not fully satisfied with his early form.

“It’s been an alright start to the Image: Courtesy News Queensland

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ORIGIN OUTLOOK

2016 – A GREAT YEAR TO BE A QUEENSLANDER MANY people are asking the question regarding the future of the 2016 Queensland Origin team as they enter un-charted waters under the watchful eye of Ipswich, Canberra, Broncos, Queensland and Australian Legend, Kevin Walters. Walters has spent many seasons as the second man behind some of the greats in the game including the greatest of all time in Wayne Bennett. He has also spent time as the second man beside Craig Bellamy and Mal Meninga but saying that Walters is his own man and will bring his own brand of magic to a team that has dominated the Inter-state series for ten seasons. Only a speed bump in 2014 that coincided with an injury to the clinical Cooper Cronk has caused the maroon juggernaut any problems but age, injury, forced suspensions, a change in coaching staff and two away games has given the Blues a sniff of victory in this year’s series.

Experience will be the key to Queensland’s chances in 2016 with 15 of the 17 who played in game 3 of last year’s series available again this year while the availability of Josh McGuire and Daly Cherry-Evans should prove a boost for the maroons.

The major playing loss for the maroons has been the reliable Justin Hodges (retirement) and Billy Slater injured for season while several fringe players including Valentine Holmes and Cameron Munster are unavailable due to disciplinary action.

The world’s best player, Johnathan Thurston along with Matt Scott, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Darius Boyd, Greg Inglis, Jacob Lillyman, Sam Thaiday and Corey Parker need no introduction to Kevin Walters while the younger brigade headed

by Michael Morgan, Josh Papalii, Aidan Guerra and Dane Gagai are sure to be around for a long time. The Maroons depth will be tested in 2016 with Cameron Munster a classic example. He was touted as a possible Origin fullback but along with Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt, Dylan Napa, Jarrod Wallace, Edrick Lee, Chris Grevsmuhl and Valentine Holmes they have been suspended after indiscretions during a Maroon training camp. Queensland has tremendous depth in key positions with players like Jake Granville and the up and coming Matt Parcell just two that will fight for a jersey in years to come. From fullback to front-row the Maroons appear to have every position covered with several of the old-guard including Thurston, Scott, Boyd, Smith and Corey Parker in great early season form. The pick of the Queensland young brigade is the Bulldogs Moses Mbye who has been sensational in the half-back position while 2015 star, Michael Morgan will go close to a Kangaroo jersey this season.

Success for Queensland since 1980 has come on the back of a desire to wear a Maroon jersey and it’s a historical fact that only 182 Maroon players have represented their state since the first game in 1980 compared to 257 wearing the sky-blue of New South Wales. This loyalty to players will be tested in 2016 as several ageing stars who have given loyal and trusted service to Queensland must be close to hanging up their boots on the Inter State front. Jacob Lillyman (32), Cameron Smith (33), Cooper Cronk (33), Johnathan Thurston (33) and Corey Parker (34) will leave a gaping hole in the quality of the Maroons when they retire.

Our fullback stocks took a battering in the first weeks of the season with Slater gone for 2016 and his logical replacement at the Storm in Cameron Munster a scratching from any Origin this year. Darius Boyd and Greg Inglis are ready to wear the number 1 but it immediately puts pressure on our outside positions filled by Boyd, Chambers and Gagai last year. Many feel that the Broncos Corey Oates is ready for Origin while the classy Ben Barba has had his best start to a season since winning the Dally M in 2012. The Cowboys Justin O’Neill who scored 13 tries last year is sure to be another in the selector’s minds and his ability to play centre could give him an edge while Kyle Feldt is in the selection frame.

Justin Hodges wore the number four jersey in all three games in 2015 and his retirement leaves a gaping hole in our centres with Greg Inglis a game by game proposition with an injury cloud.

Will Chambers played in the centres in Game Three last season and will probably start there in 2016 but the bench is thin with Michael Morgan a likely partner in the centres although most good judges see him as a five-eighth.

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Simply put Johnathan Thurston is the best five-eighth in the world and must be on the paddock for Queensland to win the 2016 Origin Series. An injury to the Cowboys playmaker would have enormous repercussions forcing Morgan into five-eighth as the other likely contender is Anthony Milford and he’ll be watching from the spectator’s enclosure. Another option here is Daly Cherry-Evans but once again injuries have dogged his early form. Clinical is the word for the super-cool Cooper Cronk who rarely makes a mistake and injury free he will be wearing the number seven jersey for Queensland in Origin One. The Bulldogs Moses Mbye from Noosa could be a wild-card in Origin this season and the player to most benefit from the expulsion of Hunt, Munster and Milford. His early season form with the Bulldogs has been outstanding and don’t be surprised to see him in action wearing a maroon jersey at some stage although Daly Cherry-Evans would have the inside running.

Apart from an injury to Josh McGuire the forward pack for the 2015 season was the same all series. The starting six were Corey Parker, Sam Thaiday, Aidan Guerra, Matt Scott, Cameron Smith and Nate Myles with Jacob Lillyman and Matt Gillett playing all three games off the bench while Josh Papalii replaced the injured Josh McGuire in Game Three. As mentioned the key to Queensland’s success has been loyalty and I cannot see any changes to the starting six if all are fit at the end of May. Parker at 34 is the oldest player in the Maroons team but his form has been first class and he gets better with age. Ethan Lowe from the North Queensland Cowboys must have impressed towards the end of 2015 and playing with the premiers won’t hurt his Queensland chances while Papalii could get a run-on spot if form or injury to one of the first six is a problem. All in all our forwards hold the key while keeping Thurston fit for three games is vital to Kevin Walters dreams of joining Mal in the winner’s circle.

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IT took the Titans two attempts to snare Toowoomba talent Ash Taylor. Their first try was a blunder. It came when Taylor was in his mid-teens and was more known for his touch football exploits than starring in rugby league. Taylor went to a training camp run by the Titans. The camps are a chance for the Titans’ development officers to run their eye over the best talent running around. Taylor thought it might be his ticket to the NRL. He felt he did well in drills and game simulations but never heard back. Not even a phone call to say he wasn’t wanted.

Then the Broncos saw him star in a Toowoomba competition.

They invited him to their training camp and they did call back.

Not only did they call back but after he continued to impress in their Broncos Elite Player Development program, they offered him a rich deal for a then 17-year-old.

Taylor remains one of the highest paid teens ever on the Broncos books.

Their investment however, is now paying off for the Titans. Taylor was thrust into the role of halfback this season when NRL rookie of the year Kane Elgey snapped ACL in the pre-season. He hasn’t dominated but in a team struggling to match the best of the NRL he has been solid. Gorden Tallis, a Titans ambassador, even said his ability to control the game was equal to that of Broncos halves Anthony Milford and Ben Hunt when the M1 rivals clashed in round five.

“He matched them,” Tallis said. “In terms of managing the game with the right kicks and right options, then Ash matched them.

“He may not have the talent they have right now but he’s

showing a lot of potential for the future.”

Taylor has had to mature fast for the Titans. The Titans’ roster is $800,000 below the salary cap.

They could buy two very good NRL players for that much money but they are being patient. It is a brave ploy by Neil Henry who is adamant he won’t buy a player for the sake of buying a player.

In the short term though, Taylor is having to manage with lessor talent.

One wonders if the development of his players is being short changed for the sake of patience. Only time will tell though. Taylor has the right attitude to succeed regardless.

He had to step up again and be the club’s halves leader when experienced five-eighth Tyrone Roberts suffered an injury against the Broncos. “I have to step up. I have to call shots for the team which is something I have had to do with Tyrone being out,” Taylor said. “At the start it was tough. I have just had to take it on and get comfortable with it. “Week in week out, you are versing players who have played rep footy before.

“I look forward to each challenge and enjoy mixing it with them. “Tyrone is my mentor this year and he’s been great.”

- Bruce John

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SUPPORTING REGIONAL COMMUNITIES

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RAISED by a single mother in Noosa, five NRL clubs looked at a teenage Moses Mbye and said thanks but no thanks.

The Broncos were among those who had a brief glance at Mbye and decided the playmaker of African parentage wasn’t worth their investment. Compare that with how several NRL clubs frothed over Anthony Milford at the same time, with the Canberra Raiders beating several clubs to put the then 13-yearold on a scholarship.

The Bulldogs eventually signed Mbye but only after he made his own way to a trial day with the club that was run by Brett Kimmorley. Mbye and Milford duelled each other in junior representative teams in Queensland and then combined for Queensland under-18 and under-20. Their stories as teenager were totally different. Now they are very similar.

Mbye is now the richest 22-year-old in rugby league after signing a rich extension with the Canterbury Bulldogs.

MOSES MBYE

Milford, who turns 22 later this year, will overtake Mbye for that status next year when he signs his next deal and becomes even richer. Mbye said Milford did things he never could.

“I played with and against Milf coming up. We were the Queensland halves coming up through the grades,” Mbye told Rugby League Queensland. He is a freak player. I really enjoyed playing alongside him. He has so much time with the ball. I hope one day we will play alongside each other at the top level.

My style of football is different to his. There is a high calibre of playmakers available for Queensland that are coming up now, with Milf and then you have Benny Hunt too.

“Those two are already two of the best halves in the competition.”

Premiership-winning halfback Kimmorley said Mbye’s tale was remarkable given how quickly he had advanced as a playmaker.

Kimmorley hailed him a natural footballer who’s will to win was greater than most.

“He’s not the fastest or most athletic guy but he’s just a good kid who was willing to learn and was very mature at a young age,” Kimmorley said.

“The difference between him and many halves is a lot of halves like to play the game but forget to be in the game, and Moses is always in the game. He was desperate to be a first grader. He’s a future captain of the Bulldogs.”

- Bruce John

Moses Mbye – Noosa’s NRL Canterbury Bulldogs.

Champion Image: Brett Costello/Newspix

No book before has captured the history of the rugby league in North Queensland like More than the Foley Shield.

The book tells the story of more than 300 players and officials that had a hand in the 100 year rise and development of the game in the north of Australia.

MORE THAN THE FOLEY SHIELD

The stories of the great international teams that toured the North like the 1928, 1936 and 1946 Great Britain sides, the magnificent 1951 and 1955 Frenchmen who thrilled the crowds in Townsville and Cairns.

The book is not only about the games - it captures the great players like Ola Olsen from Charters Towers, who played six games for Queensland in 1908 through to our current North Queensland super-star Johnathan Thurston.

No region or town misses out with more than 400 photos, many never seen before, of teams and players from Sarina in the south, Thursday Island in the north and Mount Isa in the west.

The book written in chronological order tells about the great North Queensland team that supplied nine Queensland players in 1915 and also tells about the success of the North Queensland Cowboys, Mackay Cutters and Northern Pride.

The great games are mentioned in detail like the 110 minute marathon in 1982 when Townsville and Herbert River fought out a 22/22 draw, the 100 minute Carlton Shield final in 1938 when Cairns and Townsville drew and the great effort from the 1962 Far North Queensland team in Cairns who went down to a magnificent Great Britain team 33/31.

This touring team had beaten all corners including Australia. More than the Foley Shield tells all. Don’t miss out on this great piece of North Queensland history.

Available online – www.morethanthefoleyshield.com.au 11 LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Controversy Corner THE CLASS OF 2008 - TONY PRICE

James Tamou – one of the Class of 2008 Image: Courtesy North Queensland Cowboys

Most of us watch the NRL either on the big-box or if you are one of the lucky ones who live in Brisbane, Gold Coast or Townsville you can go to a game. How many of us watch the NYC Under 20’s in action? These are the NRL players of the future as has been proven time and time again. The Under 20 comp started in 2008 with the Broncos Ben Hunt winning what was known as the Toyota Cup Player of the Year. It has been suggested that the pickup from Under 20 to NRL standard is not great but that’s actually a fallacy as at least 38 of the Class of 2008 from the three Queensland based clubs made the step-up into NRL. Of the Queensland teams in 2008 the Broncos had the best strike rate with 15 followed by the Titans with 14 and the Cowboys with nine. It is obvious that the grade is taken seriously by the NRL clubs but is it taken seriously by the fans!! It has been suggested than some NRL clubs are concerned that the demise of the NYC would see an exodus of young talent to rugby union and I’ll admit that is a possibility but in my opinion not a probability.

Fullback – Ben Barba (Canterbury, Player of Year 2012) Winger – Jharal Yow Yeh (Bronco, Australia) Centre – Josh Hoffman (Broncos, New Zealand) Centre – Jordan Kahu (Broncos, New Zealand) Winger - David Mead (Titans, PNG) 5/8 – Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly, Australia) ½ Back – Ben Hunt (Broncos, Australia) Lock – Aidan Guerra (Melbourne Storm, Australia) 2nd Row – Alex Glenn (Broncos, New Zealand) 2nd Row – Tariq Simms (Broncos, Fiji) Prop – Josh McGuire (Broncos, Queensland) Hooker – James Segeyaro (Rabbitohs, PNG) Prop – James Tamou (Roosters, Australia) Interchange – Matt Gillett (Broncos, Australia) Interchange – Lachlan Coote (Penrith, City) Interchange – Antonio Winterstein (Broncos, Samoa) Interchange – Travis Wardell (Canberra, All Stars) 12

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In 2008 the Canberra Raiders who were minor-premiers won the grand final defeating a quality Broncos team 28/24 in the big game with future Australian player Josh Duggan winning the Jack Gibson Medal as Player of the Game.

Former Proserpine player and future Canberra, Newcastle and Broncos first-grader Travis Wardell played hooker for Canberra that day. If we selected a representative team from the Class of 2008 it could look something like this and I must point out that the team in brackets was the team the player represented in the Class of 2008:It is clearly obvious that the cream of the crop is in the NYC and not the Intrust Super Cup so it stands to reason that if the NYC went these young players would commence their career either in their local league or playing Intrust Super Cup. This I feel without taking anything away from the current Intrust Super Cup teams will create a quality competition and bring crowds back to this type of rugby league.

Many regional competitions currently field Under 18, Reserve and A Grade so where do the Under 20s fit in? Even the strongest regional club competition in Queensland which I feel is Cairns cannot sustain a four team competition and don’t have Under 20s. The talk for 2017 is that the current Intrust Super Cup format of Under 16, Under 18 and A Grade is going to be replaced by Under 18, Under 20 and A Grade with the follow-on effect of encouraging local competitions to move their Under 18s back to Junior League and create an Under 20s in the senior competition. While this sounds great on paper, I wonder how many clubs have 60 – 70 players in the 19+ age bracket. I personally feel that this move would create a two tiered competition with the bigger clubs dominating and could possibly put too much pressure on smaller clubs that compete in the same pool for players.

In summary whatever the people in power decide to do will have long term implications on the game so they have to get it right. I can see why moving an Under 20 team into the Intrust Cup has merit but I would be concerned about the implications of trying to create what would basically be three senior teams at regional club level. What do you think?

Next month I’m going to have a crack at one of my favourite subjects; “Who is eligible for Queensland and Australia and why?” I’ll leave with the comment that in 1970 the pinnacle of rugby league was playing for Australia against England and it was unthinkable that a player born in New Zealand or Fiji would be eligible for selection and more to the point they would not want to play for another country.

THE I N T R U ST SUPER CUP Since 1982 the Queensland Rugby League has run a state wide rugby league competition. This competition has had many names and several different formats but the problem over 35 seasons has been trying to connect the competition to the clubs below. Once this pathway has been rectified and ownership of the club seemingly belongs to the region or area the crowds will come back to the game in a similar fashion to 1982 when it all began. I’ll clarify what I say by ‘seemingly’ by stating that back in the day there was an orderly system of going from a junior club to a representative player through a process of selection. Many club CEO’s and administrators may think that is time consuming and messy but it connects all levels to the same cause which is rugby league.

Three of the Blackhawks best - David Munro, Kieran Quabba and Willie Minoga Image: Alix Sweeney

impress in the Intrust Cup while newcomers like former Wests Tigers player Delouse Hoeter are up north to prove a point.

Cowboys NRL squad players from 2015 like Glen Hall, Hezron Murgha (Northern Pride) and David Munro round off a very strong squad and with Kristian Woolf once again at the helm the Blackhawks deserve their position as Cup favourites. It’s worth noting that the Blackhawks topped the Intrust Super Cup in points scored and best defence with an 850/363 points differential. After seven rounds of the 2016 season they lead the field with six wins and the best point’s differential of the 14 clubs. Their 11/10 loss to the Hunters in PNG has taken the outright lead off the Blackhawks but they had a strong 40/10 win away against the improving Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Expect to see them on the field at season end, against who is the question.

THE 2016 INTRUST SUPER CUP has captured the attention of the Queensland rugby league public with two clubs; Blackhawks and the PNG Hunters fighting for the top spot closely followed by an improving Pride, Redcliffe and Burleigh. It has been suggested that the Blackhawks, being close to the North Queensland Cowboys and with one of the best junior breeding grounds in Australia to select from, will dominate this competition for years. Only time will tell but it is certainly easier to throw a surplus player over the fence to the Blackhawks than send him north to Cairns or south to Mackay.

The goal of the Townsville Blackhawks in pre-season 2015 was to make the semi-finals for the first time but as the season progressed the posts moved and the word ‘premiership’ was used a lot in the northern capital. Backed by the powerful Townsville Brothers Club the Blackhawks had a roster that was the envy of the Intrust Cup, fielding a team that contained 11 players with NRL experience including the rugged Glenn Hall and Neville Costigan in the forwards plus classy backs like Tom Humble and Robert Lui. The Blackhawks fell at the final hurdle, going down 32/20 to a more energetic Ipswich Jets who won their first premiership in 33 seasons.

For season 2016 the Blackhawks have retained almost all of their key players from 2015 and signed the bulk of the Cowboys Under 20 players from that season. Kyle Laybutt, Andrew Niemoeller, Temone Power and Kieran Quabba all played in the top-gun Cowboys Under 20’s and are sure to

100 game veteran – Ryan Ghietti Image: Courtesy Northern Pride LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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The PNG Hunters were the other Intrust Super Cup team that fell in the home straight in 2015 but coming second in the regular season to the Blackhawks was a great effort considering the travel constraints. Indeed although they earned the rights to a home final they had to forfeit the right due to the impost of a $200,000.00 fee to stage the game in PNG. The Hunters have lost their Intrust Super Cup five-eight of the Year, Israel Eliab to the London Broncos and the hard running Willie Minoga to the Blackhawks but apart from that have retained the bulk of their 2015 squad. Their 718 points in attack was second to the Blackhawks last season and an improved defence could see them push for a Grand Final spot this season. After seven rounds they are tied with the Blackhawks with six wins and did knock off the premiership favourites at home and defeated Norths 38/22 in round seven.

The Northern Pride have been consistent and after finishing just out of the semi race in 2015 are sitting in 3rd spot alongside Redcliffe and Burleigh. Their recent form has been sound after a 48/0 defeat of Tweed Heads and a 30/16 defeat of Easts at Barlow Park. The Pride have one of the youngest rosters in the Intrust Super Cup with their inspirational captain Ryan Ghietti notching up his 100th game at the ripe old age of 26. Khan Ahwang scored two tries and kicked five goals against Easts to move to the top of the Intrust Super Cup points scorers with 80 after seven rounds.

The Burleigh Bears are the big improvers of the 2016 Intrust Super Cup with five wins from seven games although their 38/22 loss to the Capras at home has dented their confidence.

In theory they should be sitting in 3rd spot because they have a bye in hand. Their Jamal Fogarty is second in the competition in points scored (74) and after seven rounds their Kurtis Rowe is leading the try-scoring with eight.

Other clubs that have commenced 2016 with improvement are the Central Division duo of the CQ Capras who under former premiership winning coach Kim Williams (Mackay Cutters) have

gone from last in 2015 to 8th in 2016 and the Sunshine Coast Falcons who have gone from 11th to 7th. The Capras have won three from six with a bye but are an improving team with a last round victory over Burleigh. The Sunshine Coast Falcons, who along with Easts Tigers share a connection with Melbourne Storm, have improved remarkably this season chalking up four wins from their seven games compared to seven from 23 last year. Their classy half-back Ryley Jacks has scored five tries in six games and is destined for the NRL while the elusive Marco De La Pena (Capras) could be out for the season with injury.

Redcliffe Dolphins are the big improvers of the Brisbane-based clubs and have been consistent winning their last five games and holding the high-flying Blackhawks to 18/16 in Townsville in round one. Their defence is the best of the 14 clubs in the Intrust Super Cup only conceding 15 points a game.

Apart from Redcliffe, Easts Tigers are the only Brisbane team that have a positive points differential and currently sit in 6th spot on the ladder although an unlucky 14/14 draw against Norths has cost them a chance to be level with the three teams above them. Once again they are a Storm feeder club and have the 4th best defence in the competition.

Norths Devils are the other big improvers of the Brisbanebased clubs with Norths finishing second last in 2015 and sitting in 9th spot in 2016.

The Ipswich Jets commenced the 2016 season where they left off in 2015 with two determined victories including a 30/18 win over the Blackhawks but they have struggled since and after seven rounds of the competition sit in 11th position with a negative 35 points differential. The new style coaching of the Walker brothers plus the sheer grit, determination and brilliance of players like Keiron Lander, Billy McConnachie, Rod

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Griffin, Matt Parcell and Marmin Barba was enough to give Ipswich their 2015 title in a game where the Blackhawks were expected to win and win well. 2016 is a new season and Ipswich has lost their inspirational leader in Keiron Lander and as many as six quality players have gone onto the NRL. Marmin Barba is still weaving his magic and has scored six tries in six games but the sting appears to have gone out of the Jets.

Tweed Heads Seagulls are in 12th spot on the ladder after finishing in 10th spot in 2015. Their only win was in round one against Easts and it appears they are destined to fight out the wooden-spoon with the Cutters.

Wynnum Manly were the bottom of the ladder after six rounds of the competition but a gritty 30/22 win over Ipswich in Ipswich may have saved their season. Wynnum finished the 2015 regular season on 36 points tied with Ipswich but were relegated to fourth spot with a positive points deferential of 183.

Season to date in 2016 that has changed to a negative 113 after seven rounds, conceding 33 points a game. The Seagulls under new CEO Hanan Laban had recruited wisely and although the signings were few the quality was first class with Mitchell Cronin (Canberra Raiders) playing well while NYC player from last season, Alex Barr (Broncos) looks the goods. The experienced David Stagg has departed but with “Courier Mail” Player of the Year Patrick Templeman and 100-game cult hero Peter Gubb playing well they will improve.

The Mackay Cutters, who won a premiership in 2013 with players like Michael Morgan, Jason Taumalolo, Bureta Faraimo and Kalifa Faifai Loa in their midst, are probably the hardest hit of the Intrust Super teams falling to last in 2016 with a negative deferential of 92 for the season to date. The loss of premiership winning coach Kim Williams to the Capras was a blow but his replacement David Simpson is an experienced coach.

Former West Belconnen player Johnny Faletagoa’i is one of their better players and along with Liam Taylor and Josh Chudleigh has shown grit.

The Falcons Ryley Jacks – destined for the NRL Image: Courtesy Richie Duce/Level Eleven Photography

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Tui Kamikamica WE’LL HEAR MORE OF HIM

The Falcons Ryley Jacks – destined for the NRL Image: Courtesy Richie Duce/Level Eleven Photography

HIS real name is almost impossible to pronounce but it is one Ray Warren will have to learn because Sunshine Coast Falcons backrower Erevonu Kamikamica has NRL talent.

In a patchy start to the year for the Falcons, Kamikamica has been a stand out.

A Fijian weapon, the 196cm and 120 kilogram behemoth was brought to Australia by the Parramatta Eels.

Born on a remote outer island of Fiji, Kamikamica boarded at the same Fijian union nursery as Wallabies winger Henry Speight.

But the Falcons star loves the big collisions and greater freedom afforded in league and while his two years with the Eels didn’t result in an NRL debut, it is an accomplishment Falcons coach Craig Ingebrigtsen believes is only a matter of time. “He has great talent. I can’t speak highly enough of him and what he’s brought to this team,” Ingebrigtsen said.

“He trains very well and while he has a lot to learn, there is such great talent in him and we are already seeing a good amount of it.”

“Tui is what his Australian name is and what we all call him.

“He’s a big, athletic guy, who comes from a rugby union background.

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“He was very good at rugby in Fiji and then spent a couple of years with Parramatta.

“He can be an NRL player for sure.

“He has that ability in him and I don’t think it will be too long before we see him doing well at that level.“ “We couldn’t be happier with him.”

The Falcons have been competitive in most matches so far in the Intrust Super Cup after luring Ingebrigtsen to the coast from the Easts Tigers.

The Tigers were unhappy with their coach’s defection at the time but it appears to have worked out well for all parties with the Tigers also performing.

The Falcons however now have the vast majority of Melbourne Storm talent to use.

Kamikamica is not one of their player’s dual registered with the Storm but that could change in the coming months if his form maintains.

- Bruce John

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7S OR 13 CONSIDERED THE BEST of the Barba family, Ipswich Jets star Marmin says he isn’t finished with rugby union and could return to the code next season. The Mackay product and younger brother of Ben told League Queensland he was happy returning to the Jets where he won state and national titles last year but does have unfinished business in union’s Sevens world series. Barba crossed codes late last year in an attempt to play for Australia’s rugby sevens team at the Olympics.

He played for an Australian development team in a tournament in Fiji and was impressive but was not selected for the Wellington Sevens and told he was unlikely to make the Olympics and would be better off returning to rugby league and committing fully to Sevens from 2017. Barba only had six weeks to prove himself in Sevens. It was never going to be enough.

He has the athleticism and footballing instincts to make it in the code but even Sevens requires intimate knowledge of breakdown plays, defensive structure and running lines which are very different to league.

“It was difficult. I didn’t have enough experience in union,” Barba said.

“I enjoyed my time when I was there but basically they said I didn’t have enough experience in sevens and union so I decided to come back to the Jets.

“They said if I was there six months earlier I would have been all right but unfortunately I wasn’t.

“The lack of experience just let me down. We played in a Coral Coast tournament in Fiji. It was a good experience over there. It was a tough comp but it was enjoyable.We will see what happens at the end of this year. I could go back.I need to focus on playing good footy with the Jets this year first of all though.

“I am really happy to be back at the Jets.”

The Jets dominated the Intrust Super Cup last season beating the highly fancied Townsville Blackhawks in the grand final and then travelling to Sydney and beating Newcastle in the national final in the curtain raiser to the NRL grand final. The success saw seven Jets players pick up professional contracts but Barba and Billy McConnachie have returned to the town west of Brisbane. They will however be without Kurt Capwell and Josh Cleeland who signed with Cronulla and Matt Parcell who signed with Manly. Those three were arguably the Jets’ best three players last season. Their lack of combination was exposed in a trial against Parcell’s Manly in February as Ipswich conceded a half century.

“It was a good experience playing against an NRL side,” Barba said.

“For a few of the younger boys it was a really good experience. Even though we got hammered it was good for us in a way. We have a new half, coming in for Josh Cleeland and that makes a big difference. I hope we can all combine together quickly and repeat the success we had last year.”

A H ISTO RY O F

M ACK AY R UGB Y L EAG UE 191 9 – 201 4

1911 – 2014

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A History of Rugby League in Mackay 1919 – 2014 gives a great insight into the history of the game in one of the power-house breeding grounds of rugby league in Australia.

Not many regional towns can boast of an array of talent like Ned Andrews, Elton Rasmussen, Graham Laird, Ray Laird, Martin Bella, Dale Shearer, Shannon Hegarty, Neville Costigan, Julian O’Neill, Josh Hoffman and Daly Cherry-Evans who all represented their country from Mackay or after leaving Mackay.

Rugby league historian Tony Price has captured every season in detail from 1919 through until 2014 with an amazing list of photos and facts never seen or listed before. He has put together an amazing list of representative players, officials and characters and his touch has brought A History of Mackay Rugby League to life.

Available online – www.morethanthefoleyshield.com.au

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU Tony Pric e

HUMBLE TOM Humble is hoping the adage ‘good things come to those who wait’ rings true in his hiatus from top flight rugby league.

The former Parramatta Eels, Wests Tigers and Penrith Panthers player has given himself 12 months off from Intrust Super Cup football to fully recover from a revolutionary ankle operation performed a little over two years ago, with stem cells inserted into his right foot.

Humble’s decision resulted in him parting ways with the Townsville Blackhawks at the end of last season, having played in the Blackhawk’s inaugural ISC campaign, including its grand final loss to Ipswich. The Blackhawks loss will be to the benefit of Townsville and Districts Rugby League club Norths, who have secured Humble’s services for this year’s TDRL season following a chance encounter between him and Devils’ coach Jason Cook.

Humble, 27, is set to play at halfback for Norths, which last year played finals for the first time since its entry into the TDRL in 2012.

“I’d like to go back to the Intrust Super Cup next year if I can, but I’ve had three operations on this ankle and the last one was actually a stem cell procedure, and I needed about 18 months to two years for it to fully regrow,” Humble said.

“I felt I just needed to step back and give myself a chance to make it work because it was giving me a bit of pain last year, but I can’t afford to sit on the sidelines for 12 months if I want to get back to the Blackhawks.

“So I’ll have a year in local league to keep playing footy. It’s not like I’ll be having an easy time or anything because in the TDRL you’re still playing against men and there’s exceptional players at every club.”

STEPPING BACK TO GO FORWARD

“I played for Brothers in A grade and I still have an underlying love for Brothers, but I’m starting to grow some really strong friendships at Norths and it’s a club I believe can really go places.

“I want to be involved in the coaching side of things as well and I’m already doing a bit of work with our young teams.”

Cook admitted he second-guessed his ability to coach a player who had part of NRL systems for five years.

“I was wondering how I would go about it and what on earth I could offer, but I had absolutely no need to worry,” Cook said.

“Tom’s a fantastic bloke and we bounce ideas off each other, so I think we form a pretty good combo. He’s professional in everything he does and the great thing about Tom is he’s serious when he needs to be, but he knows how to make footy fun and I’ve already seen the enjoyment at training go up another level just with Tom being here. Every time I ask if anyone can help out with something, whether it be giving our juniors some tips or having a talk to students at school, Tom is the first to put his hand up.”

Humble believes the TDRL still has a vital role to play in the development of North Queensland’s best talents despite the introduction of the Blackhawks and continued growth of the North Queensland Cowboys’ academy systems.

“Local league is massive and it’s still part of the pathway to the big time, whether it’s the Holden Cup or Intrust Super Cup,” he said.

“I played against men for the first time in the TDRL and it toughened me up. I’m really looking forward to getting back to that grassroots level for a while and giving something back to the competition that gave me my start in footy.”

Humble is now also working with Cook at the Townsville City Council, allowing Humble some flexibility between his on-field and off-field duties.

“I happened to run into “Cookie” about halfway through last year and we started talking about next season, and I told him I was looking for a job,” Humble said.

“I just grabbed the opportunity straight away, so for me and Cookie it’s a mutual thing. He’s a top bloke and he runs a very good club and work environment, and I’m sure he’ll be accommodating when it comes to work and footy, even though footy will only take up about two days a week now instead of five.

Humble is not the only player with NRL experience running around for Norths this year, with former Cowboys and St George Illawarra forward Ricky Thorby signing with the Devils after retiring from the Blackhawks last season.

They will play alongside Norths backrower and former Cowboys winger Wayne Ulugia, who has been with Norths since 2014.

“I know plenty about the TDRL and it’s where I started before I went to the NRL,” Humble said.

Image: Alix Sweeney

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PUTTING UP THEIR FEET The old adage ‘putting up their feet’ takes on a whole new meaning when you are on a legendary maxi yacht in the world famous Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Former Queensland Origin forward, Mick McLean was one of three rugby league players on ‘Maxi Ragamuffin’ in this year’s race. ‘Maxi Ragamuffin’ which was built in 1979 came 23rd in line honours after 4 days, 3 hours and 41 minutes of sailing in one of the most famous events on the World racing calendar. The yacht itself is a legend of Australian racing having won the famous race in 1979, 1988 and 1990 but has spent the last few years in a more leisurely fashion as the flag-ship for the Nant Distilling Company.

The mostly Bowen crew from McLean’s home town where the family own the Grand View Hotel are great rugby league supporters with three of the crew great players in their own right. Lachlan McLean played for Bowen and Whitsunday in the mid 1970’s and was a key player in the Bowen team that won the North Queensland B Grade title in Townsville in 1976. Lach, as he is known now runs a highly successful boutique wine business called Lock, Stock and Barrel in Queensland and Northern New South Wales.

The youngest member of the crew in Craig Snell arrived on the rugby league scene after the demise of the Whitsunday 20

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rugby league but carved a distinguished career in his own right. Travelling the 100+ kilometres from Bowen to Ayr to train and play for the Burdekin Roosters he represented North Queensland from 2006 until 2013, Queensland Rangers against New South Wales, played in several Foley Shield Finals for Townsville and won a Townsville District Club premiership with the Burdekin Roosters. A strong running back row forward he was an automatic selection in North Queensland Marlin teams for eight seasons.

Mick McLean, the undisputed rugby league king on ‘Maxi Ragamuffin’ is well known in rugby league circles having played for Bowen Brothers, Brisbane Easts, Sydney City Roosters, Newcastle, Gold Coast, Halifax (England) and of course five Origin games for Queensland. McLean has continued his involvement in rugby league sponsoring several annual rugby league carnivals in his home town of Bowen and has been the major sponsor of “More than the Foley Shield” for the past four years. When questioned about their recent Sydney to Hobart adventure the crew all agree that while an individual could shine on a rugby league paddock sailing is a team effort and all ten Bowen lads shared the work load. Paul Green, the coach of the winning North Queensland Cowboys team could not get to Bowen quick enough after the big game to relax with Mick and his mates. He took along a new friend in the Summons Proven Trophy (photo on right). If you are passing through Bowen at any time soon call into the Grand View Hotel on the waterfront and catch up with Mick. He’d love to see you.

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NORFORD A BIGGER PICTURE

Nathan Norford is a young man who can already see the bigger picture. The Townsville Blackhawks hooker and Kirwan State High School teacher aide is determined to play his part in the region’s continuing rise as a rugby league powerhouse, whether it be making the decisive break in an Intrust Super Cup grind, or making team selections as a junior coach.

Norford, 23, has been playing footy since he could walk and is already relishing the day when he becomes a fully-fledged coach, but there is plenty of footy left in the Townsville Brothers junior, who has also represented Australia in touch football.

He has become a valuable interchange asset for the Blackhawks, bringing his intelligent and fleet-footed brand of football into the back end of each half, and his work so far is working a treat.

Norford has brought impact into every game he has played, including the Blackhawks’ Round 5 thumping of his former club Wynnum-Manly where his spark out of dummy half proved too much for a tiring Seagulls defence, helping to blow out the score to 50-10.

“You want to be creating influence and making an impact in the game, not just dragging along,” Norford said.

“Touch is always with my footy and its part of my attacking sense.

“I’m always happy to contribute to the team in anyway and the way we’ve started the season, you can’t really ask for anything more.

“One of the main goals over the off-season was to work on my strength and I think I’ve improved in that area a lot, but overall the goal is to keep getting better.”

Norford’s on-field presence has grown considerably this year and has impressed Blackhawks’ coach Kristian Woolf, who he played under in the Cowboys under-20s.

“Against Redcliffe (in Round 1) we really needed someone to take control of the game, and I thought he did that,” Woolf said.

ONEonONE with

“It was a real arm wrestle and that’s where Nathan came into his own; he’s a very smart player and his vision is superb.

“He’d love more minutes as most blokes would, but with the new interchange it becomes difficult and testing with how you use guys, and at the moment I think this is the best way to use him.”

Norford has been a game breaker for much of his career, including his time at the Cowboys’ under-20s where he played alongside the likes of Michael Morgan, Kyle Feldt, Jason Taumalolo and Chris Grevsmuhl.

He played in the Cowboys’ under-20s team that lost the 2011 National Youth Competition grand final, suffering a golden point 31-30 defeat to the New Zealand Warriors.

Norford kept ploughing through his under-20s apprenticeship before making the move to Brisbane in 2013 to play ISC with Wynnum-Manly, but there was always a desire to move back home.

The acceptance of the Blackhawks into the 2015 ISC season made that move possible, and it has allowed Norford to kick goals off the field.

He will finish his secondary education degree midway through this year and become a fulltime teacher at Kirwan, where he went to school.

“It’s great being able to give back to the old stomping ground,” Norford said.

“They’ve supported me through university and football, and when I was a student at Kirwan they helped me make positive choices. I loved maths and the sciences at school, in particular the biology side of science and anatomy of the body. I’m coaching the school’s under-15 side in the North Queensland Cowboys Challenge as well and it’s been a great experience.

“Coaching is what I want to do after footy; transferring those skills over to coaching and having a positive influence on the kids coming though is something I’m very passionate about.”

With blokes like Norford around, the future of rugby league in Townsville appears to be in good hands.

Champions of the North salutes and recognises all the great North Queensland teams and players during the 2015 season. It covers every competition from the Torres Strait to Sarina and west to Mount Isa in detail as well as recognise the past champions who left us during the 2015 season.

N  Johnathan THURSTO  Paul GREEN  Jacob LILLYMAN  Justin O’NEILL  Kyle FELDT N  Michael MORGA

Champions of the North covers in detail the deeds of the North Queensland Cowboys, the North Queensland players in the NRL, the Intrust Super Cup, rugby league in isolated areas and the four major competitions in the north being Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and Mount Isa. It also includes “My Best Teams” in detail from 1948 – 1968 and 1969 – 2015.

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Kirwan State High School to the Straits Challenge  The Outback Qld Origin Selection League Nth Qld dominates Legends of

Available online – www.morethanthefoleyshield.com.au

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU 1

RUGBY LEAGUE THE REAL WINNER The phrase “Rugby League was the real winner” never rings truer than at the NRL Masters carnival. The annual gathering held at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast, now into its tenth year, continues to grow with a record 83 teams competing over three days.

You won’t find any ‘man buns’ or hipster beards spotted in the NRL, more so mullets or goatees that show years of commitment to grow. It’s a carnival where the only thing stretched more than the waistline of the jerseys is the stories of former glory from yesteryear.

The Masters version of Rugby League is a modified game and classed as non-competitive. There are rules in place to allow everyone over the age of 35 to enjoy without concern of injury. Of course injuries will happen and there are two big marquees set up, one for injuries and the other for massages. It’s a toss of the coin as to whether the medical or bar staff work harder over the weekend.

about. While for some it’s a weekend away catching up with old mates with a bit of footy chucked in. (Rumour has it one team is even considering organizing their full kit, making the annual pilgrimage but not bothering to register playing.) For others it’s an opportunity to take their families for a weekend on the Gold Coast.

To say Rugby League was the winner is probably inappropriate. Everyone involved from the canteen volunteers, the referees, the organisers and the players come out on top after the NRL Masters.

A true reflection on why Rugby League is the ‘Greatest Game of All’.

- BEN FRASER

All games are played within the ‘Spirit Of Masters’ although come the toss both sides can up the anti. Age rules apply but are optional, those over 40 can wear red shorts which allows grab tackles only, while gold shorts for the over 50’s mean touch only. No scores are kept but just like a junior carnival from the other end of the age spectrum, the players can tell you who won or lost.

The highlight of the carnival by far is the Men of League All Stars, made up of former NRL greats such as Petero Civoniceva and Wally Fullerton Smith verse the Runaway Bay All Stars, selected from the various teams competing in the carnival.

The biggest cheer of the game wasn’t for the razzle-dazzle play of the games great but for 83 year old Norfolk Island player Ian Anderson crossing over in his brightly coloured gold shorts for a long range try. The oldest player at the carnival slid past noted FOG defender Ashley Harrison 40 metres out and with blistering pace left speedsters Robbie O’Davis and Marcus Bai in dust. The crowd noise rivalled that of JT’s winning field goal in the grand final.

The moment sums up the essence of what this carnival is LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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Featuring Featuring Featuring Poet PoetRupert RupertMcCall, McCall,Comedian ComedianDarren Darren Carr Carrand andaahost hostofofAustralia’s Australia’sCricketing Cricketingelite elite Featuring Featuring Poet Rupert McCall, Comedian Darren Carr and a host of Australia’s Cricketing elite including including Joe JoeBurns, Burns, Mark MarkWaugh, Waugh, Ian Ian Healy, Healy, Andrew Andrew Symonds, Symonds, Brad Brad Haddin, Haddin, Poet Poet Rupert RupertMcCall, McCall, Comedian Comedian Darren Darren Carr Carr and anda a host hostofof Australia’s Australia’s Cricketing Cricketing elite elite including Joe Burns, Mark Waugh, Ian Healy, Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin, Adam Adam Gilchrist, Gilchrist, Glenn Glenn McGrath, McGrath, Ryan Ryan Harris Harris & & many many more. more. including includingJoe JoeBurns, Burns,Mark MarkWaugh, Waugh,Ian IanHealy, Healy,Andrew AndrewSymonds, Symonds,Brad BradHaddin, Haddin, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Ryan Harris & many more.

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All Allproceeds proceedsfrom fromthe theDinner Dinner&&the theMatch Matchwill willbe bedonated donatedtoto All proceeds from the Dinner & the Match will be donated to All Allproceeds proceedsfrom fromthe theDinner Dinner&&the theMatch Matchwill willbe bedonated donatedtoto

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UP NORTH THURSDAY ISLAND TO SARINA

Some of the great names of Australian Rugby League honed their skills in the hot, humid, sometimes wet and often dry football fields of North Queensland. In 2015 the region’s contribution to the game could not be questioned as they won the NRL (Cowboys), made the semi-finals of the NYC (Under 20’s), made the Grand Final of the Intrust Super Cup (Blackhawks), won both the Queensland wide Cyril Connell Cup (Under 16) and the Mal Meninga Cup (Under 18) while Kirwan State High won the Australian wide GIO Cup. Yes, a great year if you are from North Queensland but it all began back in 1908 when Ola Olsen from Charters Towers played for Queensland in the first ever representative team.

Over the years the quality of rugby league talent has never been doubted as players like Mick

Glasheen, Frosty Benton, Ned Andrews, Kel O’Shea, Jimmy Paterson, Bobby Hagen, Alan Gil, Garry Wellington, Angelo Crema, Lionel Williamson, Ray Laird, Brian Fitzsimmons, George Ambrum, Warren Orr and Kerry Boustead played for Australian from the North. We were also good in the import/export business as we sent Cyril Aynsley, ‘Cocky’ McMahon, Harry Fewin, Graham Laird, Elton Rasmussen and Trevor McDonald south to play for Australia and bought super-stars of the game like Eric Bowe (Mackay), Dave Parkinson (Babinda), Jack Horrigan (Ayr), Noel White (Townsville), Ron Griffiths (Cairns), Duncan Hall (Home Hill), Len Pegg (Mackay), Bernie Drew (Proserpine), Bobby Banks (Charters Towers), John Grice (Mackay) and Noel Kelly (Ayr) north for the winter. The ten year period just after the Second World War was a time of immense growth in regional Queensland with the west being opened up to cater for the great natural wealth of the sheep and cattle industries. Players like Duncan Hall, Bobby Banks and Jack Horrigan could earn more working in North Queensland than the poker-machine rich Sydney clubs could pay them.

club in what was at the time a very strong competition. The North Queensland players went south in droves with Greg Dowling, Gene Miles, Colin Scott, Sam Backo, Martin Bella and Dale Shearer going onto play for Australia while the likes of Marshall Colwell, Eddie Muller, Gavin Allen, Adrian Brunker, Mick McLean, Terry Butler, Steve Jackson and Chris Phelan went onto play for Queensland.

The North Queensland Cowboys arrived in 1995 and struggled in the early years but by 2005, which coincided with the signing of a young Johnathan Thurston, they had become a force in Australian Rugby League. Their 2015 NRL premiership win has stamped their passport as having arrived in rugby league folklore and as many experts predict the sheer strength of rugby league in North Queensland will ensure that teams from this area remain near the top of their respective competitions.

While some NRL clubs, and big-spending Sydney City is a classic example, have no junior competition to draw from, the northern nursery coupled with three Intrust Super Cup teams and strong club competitions in Cairns, Townsville and Mackay will ensure that the Cowboys are competitive as long as the game is played.

The Cairns and District Rugby League (CDRL) is regarded in some circles as the strongest in Regional Queensland with an eleven club competition playing in four grades.

The eleven clubs consist of Mossman/Port Douglas, Mareeba, Atherton, Edmonton, Ivanhoes, Kangaroos, Suburbs, Cairns Brothers, Innisfail Brothers, Yarrabah and Tully. Tully Tigers, the most southern of the CDRL clubs, won the Club Championships in 2015 winning the minorpremiership in A Grade, Reserve Grade and Under 18 but failed at the final hurdle only winning the Under 18 Grand Final.

Kerry Boustead (1978) was basically the last in the production line of Internationals from the North until the Cowboys came into being in 1995. The major change was the introduction of the Queensland wide State League in 1982 which did two things; it killed the Foley Shield as a competitive competition as the smaller areas could not handle the loss of their star players away every week playing in the State League and the exposure to the southern media and talent scouts created an opportunity for the best to sign for a Brisbane LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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UP NORTH Jubilation for the Roosters and heart-break for the Crushers as Zac Herron scored in the dying seconds of the 2015 TDRL Grand Final.

Image: Courtesy Peter Peach

Season 2016 commenced with Innisfail proving they will be the team to beat with wins over Ivanhoes, Edmonton and Suburbs although Atherton and Cairns Brothers are also undefeated.

Atherton under new coach Dean Howard have averaged 36 points a game in their three starts and could be there at season end while Cairns Brothers are celebrating their 90th season in the Cairns Rugby League Tully had a draw in round one followed by a strong 48/16 win over Mareeba courtesy of a three-try haul from Greg Miglio and then a stuttering 20/20 draw against Yarrabah.

Their star Under 18 player from 2015 Jake Clifford has been a standout with the Blackhawks in the Mal Meninga Cup with only one player above him on the points scoring ladder as he accumulated 66 points in the seven competition rounds.

Former star Northern Pride player Ben Laity, now coaching Kangaroos, has his work cut out after three rounds with successive loses against Cairns Brothers, Atherton and Edmonton with an average of 38 point a game scored against them. Kangaroos, who won the CDRL A Grade premiership in 2013 and 2014, are also struggling in their reserve and Under 18 grades. Mareeba under the guidance of Josh Stowers who won a premiership with the club back in 1999 started the season on-song with a 44/22 win over Edmonton but have struggled since, losing 48/16 in Tully and only managing a 16/16 draw at home against Ivanhoes.

The Townsville and District Rugby League (TDRL) is the most influenced by peer pressure with the high flying Cowboys and the equally impressive Blackhawks on their door-step.

The TDRL have returned to an eight club competition for the first time for many seasons with two of the code’s founding clubs Western Lions and Souths returning to the playing fields after many years absent. Western Lions, built up by former members of West End Athletes (WEAs) through the Lions’ junior base, will be fielding A, reserve and under 20s sides in the TDRL to make it an eight team competition.

The once powerful Souths rugby league club will also be making a comeback, fielding an under 20s side to run with the University club’s A and reserve grade teams with ambitions to expand out to a fully-fledged club again. “Souths bowed 26

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CONTINUED

out in 2002. They’ve come back in the under 20s competition this year. They’re looking to reform and they’re aligned with United Suburbs which is a junior based club,” TDRL chairman Ross Anderson said. “We’ve gone from a seven team to an eight team competition with the addition of Western Lions.

Because we’ve gone to an eight team competition we’re playing two rounds and we’re going to a top five format for the final series.”

The first round of the competition was played over the weekend of the 2nd/3rd April and 2015 minor-premiers Herbert River sent a message to the rest of the clubs that they would be strong with a 38/20 defeat of 2015 premiers Burdekin in A Grade while their reggies won 64/18 to start the season in impressive style. Both the Crushers and the Roosters had strong trial form with the Herbert River boys defeating Cairns minor-premiers Tully while the Roosters played the Blackhawks Development Squad. Herbert River continued their good form in round two with wins in all three grades against Charters Towers in the ‘Towers’ while the Burdekin Roosters defeated the newly formed Western Lions who appear to have a competitive team in their first season.

The boys from Ingham continued on their winning way in round three with a very impressive 50/4 (A Grade) and 60/14 (reserve grade) victory over Centrals although the Under 20’s went down 36/10.

Centrals had beaten Norths 18/16 in round two but face the daunting task of playing the Burdekin Roosters in Ayr in Round four. Centrals are confident of fielding strong teams in all three grades under the rebuilding program headed

by A grade coach Matt Green, according to Tigers chairman Nathan Brown. Their Under 20’s have won two out of three in the current season. “He’s brought new ways to the club this year, new ways of doing things and new ideas and all the players have been really responsive so far this pre-season.”

The Burdekin Roosters, coached by former Northern Pride mentor Cameron Miller, have recovered from their first round loss to the Crushers and have strung together wins against Western Lions and University, both in Townsville, and with the return of Kurt Perry and Dylan Jensen look strong all over the park. “We’ve had a few players move on but the way they’re looking at the moment I think they’re going to be quite a strong team again this year,” Burdekin secretary Rebecca Bentel said. “We’ve got a lot more of our locals back in which is good for the community, getting all the locals involved.”

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Find more events at mackayregion.com/events LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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UP NORTH CONTINUED

The University club, which won the reserve grand title in 2015 has struggled in 2016 losing all three A Grade games and snaring a solitary 40/20 win in reserve grade against Burdekin. They are coached by former Central Queensland Capras – Anthony Toby (A grade) and Mark Kennedy (Reserve) while linking with Souths for the under 20s.

“We’ve still got a lot of young players and we’ve been able to secure some older heads, Blackhawks players, who’ll give us a bit of experience, particularly our outside backs where we were lacking last year,” University president Moses Nelliman said. Former Northern Pride back Hezron Murgha who has signed with the Blackhawks has also been linked with the Saints. “Obviously with the reserve grade winning last year a couple of really good young players, we’re going to give them a go at A grade. They were A grade standard players but with work commitments which took them out of town they just weren’t able to train consistently.” Neilliman said the club was also boosted by Army players, many from New South Wales, who wanted a chance to play football in the north.

Norths Thuringowa Devils have been boosted with the signing of Blackhawks and former NRL veterans Tom Humble and Ricky Thorby but after three round their only win has been a 38/14 victory over Charters Towers. “I think we’re looking good in A grade and reserve grade,” Devils president Josh Peters said.

The reserve grade have started the season with two wins and a narrow 24/22 loss to Western Lions.

Brothers are putting in a determined effort to return to the competitive ranks under new coach Dave Ackers after being knocked out in the first semi-final last year. Ackers, who coached the Kirwan High School Bears to the national schoolboys title last year, said there was hunger for the blue and whites to do better this year. One key signing is former Tully Tiger Matt Laumea while club premiership winning lock/five eighth Dan Humphries has returned after a year off. Brothers lead the club championships with all three teams undefeated 28

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and are looking good in 2016 to continue this form.

The Charters Towers Miners have not registered a win in the eight team competition to date but did defeat Western Lions in a pre-season trial. “We’ve got a couple of Townsville boys who have come across and are playing for Charters Towers this year,” Miners president Mark Crawley said. “I don’t know if they’ve got too much NRL experience but they might have a bit of QRL experience previously.

The Mackay and District Rugby League Competition has eight clubs from Whitsunday in the north to Sarina in the south and west to Moranbah.

The Proserpine Brahmans won their first A Grade premiership in 2015 and look the team to beat in 2016 with little change to their playing roster and have signed several key players including the rugged Adam Wright. Wright was Souths Player of the Year in 2015 and has returned to his home town so he can play alongside his younger brother, Darcy who won the Stuart Cruickshank Medal as Player of the 2015 Grand Final. Jimmy Webb who was player-coach of the 2015 team is confident his new signings like Tim Bennett (Newcastle Wests), Brad Smith (England) and Ricky Murphy (England) will fill the gaps left by the loss of the classy Alex Clare, Rohan Ahearn and Anthony Blackwood.

The Brahmans have won three from three including a rugged 20/6 victory over Magpies at the Les Stagg Oval. The Whitsunday Brahmans are favourites to win back-to-back Mackay and District Rugby League titles according to rival club officials Troy Rovelli (Souths), Brendan Jones (Magpies) and Alf Abdullah (Sarina). The Brahmans have retained most of their 2015 roster and led the previously unbeaten Magpies 18/0 at half time. Magpies rallied in the second half and scored the only try of the half before Queensland Rangers player, Phil Ramage kicked a long distance penalty goal to take the game away 20/6.

Magpies were probably the under achievers of the 2015 season but the signing of the very experienced Jardine Bobongie and the return from injury of Matt Harris has seen a very competitive team on the paddock. The club has lost several players including Bill Paten Medal winner Dave Wilson, Roger Tafua, Seo Lefosio and Julian Stevens while talented half-back Kayan Davis is trialling with the Capras.

The club coached by Mick Neilsen is quietly optimistic with

“Don’t argue with Ivan Petelo!” - sure to be one of Whitsunday Brahmans best in 2016.

Image: Courtesy Nikki Hay

the experienced Matt Temby and Jerome Iakome (dual Bill Paten Medal winner) leading the pack. Despite the loss to the Brahmans, their 28/10 victory over Souths and 36/12 victory over Moranbah showed enough to indicate the return clash against the Brahmans at Glenella will be one to watch.

The significant signing in the competition has been former NRL player Brett Seymour. Can Brett Seymour bring long suffering Mackay Norths success in 2016? All rugby league supporters in the Mackay and District competition hope that the experienced Seymour can revitalise Norths. The 32-yearold has returned to Mackay after a 13-season career including stints with the Broncos, Cronulla, New Zealand Warriors and the English Super League. The talented five-eighth played for Australian Schoolboys from Mackay and is capable of taking Norths to the 2016 finals. Norths have also signed Guya Nona from Sarina who will add some zip to the team that has not won an A Grade premiership since 1988. Other key signings are the return of Dean Tass from Wests and big front-row forward John Papali. Norths president Neil Seden admits Norths are in a rebuilding phase but with their reserve grade undefeated in three outings and their A Grade defeating last years minor-premiers Sarina 36/30 things are on the improve.

Sarina, the 2015 minor-premiers have lost their entire English contingent and the talented Guya Nona but are comfortable with their home grown team that will only get better. The Wyper and Buchholz brothers will be the backbone of a very competitive club that will be strong in all grades. The much travelled David High has taken on the role of Coaching Director and will be heavily involved in the running of a club that finished the season on an unsatisfactory note. Their 2016 season has been a roller-coaster ride with their Under 18’s undefeated, reserve grade two from three while the big guys have won their first game in round three against former glamour team Souths.

Souths, the team that has dominated the competition in the last ten seasons with A Grade premierships in 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2014, are in unfamiliar territory commencing a season as underdogs. No club has given more to the Cutters than Souths and 2016 is no exception with at least six players from their 2015 season at Cutters pre-season training. Souths have also lost their experienced leader Grant Rovelli but have recruited several players including 2015 North Queensland player Aaron Jolly (Tully), Leeroy Rankin and Dylan Jones plus

the bulk of the premiership winning Under 18 team will also be around the club in 2016. The A Grade have one win from three outings while the reserve grade have two from three.

Brothers have a proud history in the Mackay area but despite winning the 2013 reserve grade title and having a competitive Under 18 team the club has struggled in the past two seasons and 2016 appears to be another difficult one for the club which will be depending on their strong juniors to fly the Brothers flag. After three rounds they have not won an A Grade game but all three defeats have been by small margins including a rugged 28/20 loss to premiership favourites Whitsunday.

Moranbah have been hit the hardest of the eight MDRL clubs following the down-turn in the mining industry but two Moree players; Jarom Haines and Jason Saunders who are dual signings with the Cutters could hold the key to their season.

Seasoned campaigners Dylan Paterson, Nat Hinchcliffe and Blake Walker will also keep the miners in the hunt. Player availability will be a key to the Sharks season as work rosters dominate the industry but season to date they have won two from three.

Wests have lost several players from their 2015 roster including Jardine Bobongie who has left for Magpies but Australian Police representative Andrew Dunkley, who was close to the best forward in the 2015 final series, will be hard to contain. Damon Koolstra at half-back and Jeff Smith (lock) will be others to watch while several of Wests premiership winning Under 18 team from 2014 will be playing first grade this season. Cutters signings Blake Atherton and Zac Radel could also wear the tigers colours during the year according to club stalwart Mick Baker.

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CENTRAL QUEENSLAND, WIDE BAY, SUNSHINE COAST, TOOWOOMBA AND DARLING DOWNS WITH ASSISTANCE FROM VARIOUS QRL STAFF IN THE CENTRAL DIVISION The Central Division has a magnificent history and it all commenced back in 1908. On the 1908/1909 Kangaroo tour two Bundaberg players made valuable contributions. Mick Bolewski played an amazing 33 games including all three tests while Bill Heidke played 26 games including two tests.

Bill Heidke and his brother Harold were the first brothers to play for Queensland. Harold actually played alongside his brother for Australia against the New Zealand Maoris at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on 14th August 1909 but for some obscure reason the game is not regarded as a test. Suffice to say the Central Division has produced some champions and this trend continues today with the Cowboys Matt Scott from Ilfracombe and the up and coming Bulldog Moses Mbye from Noosa just two of the crop.

Three of Australia’s brightest rugby league stars come from the Central Division in Arthur Beetson (Roma), Darren Lockyer (Roma) and Mal Meninga (Wide Bay). It is yet to be seen if season 2016 will find another Beetson, Lockyer or Meninga in the Central Division but the cream is rising to the top in most towns with the Falcons and Capras improved showing in the Intrust Cup. I feel that although the Central Division has two Intrust Super Cup team in the CQ Capras and the Sunshine Coast Falcons, there is certainly an opportunity for an Intrust Super Cup team or possibly an NRL team in the Toowoomba/ Ipswich area.

IN THE ROCKHAMPTON COMPETITION Yeppoon are the reigning premiers after a 34/24 defeat of Norths in the 2015 Grand Final. The Rockhampton competition consists of Biloela, CQU Norths, Fitzroy Gracemere, Rockhampton Brothers, Emu Park and Yeppoon while Gladstone clubs Brothers, Valleys and Tannum Sands have joined for the 2016 season. A prerequisite to join the competition is that the club must field teams in A, reserve and Under 20 grades so Calliope, Moura and Wallabies play in a reserve grade competition in Gladstone while Woorabinda play in the Rockhampton competition. The winners of the Gladstone Rugby League competition in 2015 were Brothers who defeated Valleys 31/22 in the Grand Final.

The combined nine team completion has been dominated by the Rockhampton teams in A Grade with Rockhampton Brothers looking the team to beat with decisive wins against Norths 38/0 and Gladstone Past Brothers 44/10. Yeppoon 30

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has also looked good with three victories from three outings against Emu Park (38/26), Biloela (24/20) and Valleys (27/18).

The mighty Bluff Rabbitohs won the 2015 Central Highlands Grand Final by defeating Clermont Bears 36/20. The Central Highlands Competition consists of Blackwater, Bluff, Clermont, Emerald Brothers, Emerald Tigers, Middlemount, Peak Downs and Dysart. The opening round was on the 16th April and Michael Dyson had a field day for Middlemount against Emerald Cowboys, scoring five tries in the 78-12 rout.

His team mates never missed out with Joel Duffy (3), Ryan Hansell (2) and Mitchell Wyatte (2) also causing concern.

Patrick McMahon kicked eight goals and also scored a try. The Emerald Tigers ladies opened their 2016 season with a 10/6 defeat of Dysart.

South Kolan won the 2015 Northern Districts Grand Final with an emphatic 50/14 defeat of Miriam Vale. The Northern Districts Competition consisting of Agnes Waters, Avondale, Burnett Heads, Gin Gin, Miriam Vale and South Kolan and after three rounds Gin Gin is undefeated followed by Agnes Waters and Avondale on four points, Burnett Heads and Miriam Vale on two and South Kolan trailing the field in the 2016 season.

Kawana won the 2015 Sunshine Coast premiership with a 24/12 defeat of Maroochydore-Coolum who are leading the 2016 competition after five rounds. They have won all five of their games to date including a narrow 10/6 over Kawana on the 9th April. Caloundra are behind the leaders with five wins including a 5th round 22/20 win over Kawana and two losses. The 2015 premiers sit in third spot on two wins alongside Nambour and Caboolture. Although Gympie are trailing the field with one win from their five rounds they have the competitions leading try scorer in Dylan McGrath who has crossed the white line on six occasions. The Sunshine Coast clubs consists of Beachmere, Beerwah, Bribie Island, Caboolture, Caloundra, Gympie/Cooloola, Kawana, Kilcoy, Maroochydore-Coolum, Mary Valley, Nambour, Noosa and Yandina.

Past Brothers won the Bundaberg Grand Final by defeating Hervey Bay 36/24. The A Grade competition consists of Across the Waves, Eastern Suburbs, Hervey Bay, ISIS, Wests, Past

CENTRAL DIVISION Brothers Bundaberg and Wallaroo. After five rounds of the 2016 season four teams sit on top after Wests defeated reigning premiers Brothers 32/24 at Salter Oval. The leading teams are Wests, Brothers, Hervey Bay and Across the Waves.

The Toowoomba Rugby League would wrestle with Cairns as the strongest regional competition in the state and in 2015 Wattles defeated Dalby 52/26 in the decider of the A Grade comp. Things have certainly changed in 2016 with Wattles (9th) and Dalby (5th) after five rounds. Pittsworth are leading the competition with four wins from five starts with their only defeat being in round one against Souths in Toowoomba. Souths and Warwick also have four wins but Pittsworth have a much better points differential of 112 against Souths (44) and Warwick (32). The Pittsworth Danes’ Mitchell Carpenter is the leading try scorer in the competition with eight followed by his team mate Thomas O’Sullivan on seven. Warwick are also having a strong start to the season leading the reserve grade and Under 18 competitions.

Highfields, Brothers and Gatton have all got three wines apiece after five rounds while Dalby sit in seventh spot with two.

Pittsworths Mitch Carpenter leads the Toowoomba try scoring with eight and proving a handful here. Image: Contributed

Before the Purple and Green written in 2012 highlights the development and growth of the rugby league in a small area of North Queensland. It and captures the time like no other. The struggle to overcome obstacles such as travel in the days between two world wars when sport was an escape from the harsh reality of a depression and employment insecurity. When people travelled by boat or train and the town band was the major form of entertainment, a time when 800 people out of a population of 1,300 would travel with their sporting heroes for a day at the seaside as Bowen was known.

This 306 page book relives the many finals in Townsville played between 1918 and 1968 and many of the heroes of the day.

Rugby League was more than a game for the people in the harsh mining and sugar towns of North Queensland in the 1930’s and into the 1960’s. It was a way to escape from a sometimes mundane existence and show the bigger towns that we could compete at their level.

The growth of the game in the 1960’s and the transition into the much respected Foley Shield is told in great detail. There are more than 200 photos in the book and more than 100 pen portraits of the heroes of this almost forgotten part of our rugby league history.

Bob O’Connor

Available online – www.morethanthefoleyshield.com.au LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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RDJRL

ROCKHAMPTON HEAD SPACE CHARITY SHIELD

The Rockhampton and District Junior Rugby League played their 5th Annual Charity Shield on the 1st April. Unfortunately one side had to pull out leaving four sides with a bye during the event. The carnival’s ambassadors, PJ Marsh, Matt Sing, Justin Loomans and Jamie Simpson took to the sidelines to sit with teams during their pool matches, giving advice to the players. Visiting teams including Moranbah, Walkerston Wanderers, Mackay Brothers, Sarina, Gladstone Brothers, Gladstone Valleys and Biloela took on the local from Emu Park, Rocky Tigers, Gracemere, North’s, Yeppoon and Rockhampton Brothers. After 24 games in some hot conditions and with 162 tries scored the teams were ranked 1 to 13 from the results, and it took to the final games to work out who would finish one and two as three teams were in contention for the top spots.

In the end it was Emu Park and Tigers winning through to the Shield Final. One of the carnival’s major objectives is participation. With the odd teams the 13th rank side would not have a final, so they were given a skills session with PJ Marsh and Matt Sing to make up for not playing a final.

The six finals played saw Sarina, Gladstone Valleys, Mackay Brothers, Norths, Rockhampton Brothers and Emu Park as victors with Emu Park having to go into golden-point against Rocky Tigers to get a hard earned 20/16 victory.

The game started with a few nervous errors from both sides. Emu Park were able to hold possession and get some field position which led to their first try which was converted. Tigers then went down field from the restart and scored out wide reducing the margin to two before forcing a mistake to take the lead 10-6. Emu Park were not to be contained and they hit back close to half time and they went into the break 12-10 up. The second half was a slug fest, both sides were shutting down the others attack and it was from a mistake Tigers broke away and with the conversation led 1612. Emu Park had a few opportunities but couldn’t get the ball over the line, and with two minutes left they raced away to score out wide and lock the game up at 16 all. The conversion was unsuccessful and with a restart to the Tigers they had a final chance to win the game, but Emu Park held strong and the game finished locked at 16 all and for the first time in the carnival’s history we were having golden point extra time.

The teams had a short break and Tigers restarted the game with a kick which went to Freddy McKinley from Emu Park,

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this speed machine took control of the game and went the length of the field from the restart to give Emu Park their first win in the Charity Shield 20-16. Freddy was also named Man of the Match for the Final by the three man panel of PJ Marsh, Justin Loomans and Matt Sing. The RDJRL would like to thank everyone involved in the Carnival, from all the volunteers scoring and helping set up the fields, to our Ambassadors PJ Marsh (Headspace), Justin Loomans, Jamie Simpson and Matt Sing who worked with the teams during the two days. The large group of young referees that officiated the 30 games, the visiting teams and their supporters who travelled to Rockhampton, our local clubs for participating and to our sponsors, CQ Leagues Club, SMW Group, Intersport Super Warehouse, Daniels Surgical, A Slice of Life Photography, Webber’s Retravision, Rockhampton Regional Council, Jetts Fitness Allenstown and CQ Capras. The Carnival also held raffles and collection tins in support of Camp Quality & Cancer Council Qld with $620.20 raised this year. Next Year’s carnival has been pencilled in for Friday 7th and Saturday 8th April.

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| whitsundaygardensestate.com.au LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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GATORS DOMINATE The Gators defence was strong on the day with this Asaiah Hill diving tackle a special. Image courtesy Catherine Carroll

THE Albany Creek Gators have dominated the opening rounds of the Brisbane Rugby League competition, notching an amazing 58 points in the first two weeks while conceding just six.

The Brisbane Rugby League competition, brought back to life 18 months ago by the Queensland Rugby League, is significantly stronger this year.

There are a number of former NRL contract holders plying their trade in the competition which has essentially replaced the FOGS Cup as a base for players who don’t make their Intrust Super Cup teams each week.

Names like former Broncos under20’s stars Dwayne Duncan and Harry Pondekas and former St George Illawarra prodigy Evander Cummins are starring.

The Gators crushed the Easts Tigers 30-0 in round two in a shock result with Redcliffe Dolphins winger Curtis Johnson and ex Broncos backrower Troyden Watene scoring.

- BRUCE JOHN

The purpose behind moving from a FOGS Cup competition to the BRL is to revive the sense of history in the lower grades of rugby league in south East Queensland and to cut down on travel costs.

It also allows BRL clubs who attracted thousands of fans before the Broncos were admitted to the NSWRL in 1988 to be reinstated.

This includes a club like Valleys Diehards.

Formed in 1908, Valleys won 24 premierships in total, including five in a golden period in the ‘70s.

They folded at the end of ‘95 - the year before the creation of the Queensland Cup - but were welcomed back into the re-formed BRL competition last year.

They won their opening game of the season and look much improved from last year.

The game of the season so far was the grand final rematch between Wynnum Manly Redland City and Ipswich.

Ipswich reserve Ben Sullivan took a key intercept to swing the round two match in his team’s as they went on to win 34-22.

Sullivan broke a 16-all deadlock midway through the second half when he scored off up a Peter Whittaker break.

Wests Brisbane Panthers winger Kyran Tanuvasa has set the competition on fire early.

He bagged four tries against Carina in a 52-6 thrashing.

One of Tanuvasa’s tries included an 80m kick return.

Like the Gators, Ipswich has also begun the season on fire winning both their opening matches.

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Albany Creek Gators’ Tyrone Clark proved a handful for Easts defence. Image: Courtesy Catherine Carroll

BILLY’S BUDDIES - BRUCE JOHN

HIS name isn’t Ray Warren but Billy Slater is the real voice of rugby league and the best communicator in the NRL has revealed he is interested in becoming a full time coach.

Slater, who hails from the quiet banana-producing north Queensland town of Innisfail where his name adorns an oval, is renowned for his on skills from fullback.

He revealed to League Queensland he wants to lend those skill to coaching. Slater is already coaching younger players at the Storm such as Cameron Munster and said he was interested in becoming an NRL head coach when he retires. Slater had an injury-riddled season last year for the Storm, with shoulder surgery ruining his State of Origin campaign and ultimately playing a major role in the Storm losing to the Cowboys in the preliminary final.

Slater is determined to return to the NRL the same, fast-twitch fibre, athlete this season and despite turning 33 this year believes he can still reach his footballing peak. However, he has already begun the transition to post-football life helping to coach the Storm’s NRL Nines team at the Auckland event in January.

and I had to work really hard on but not that. It is something I like teaching and I am doing that now as a player.”

Slater has recently created his own childrens’ rugby league program called Billies Buddies.

The program teaches the basics of rugby league to toddlers but is more designed to get kids active and engaged in team sport.

“This is a great pathway. A great environment not just for rugby league but for kids to get out into a program and exercise and learn a few rugby league things along the way,” Slater said.

“I am a father myself. I have kids around the same age, a seven and a five year old. It is difficult to get involved in rugby league these days under the age of six.

“Post-football I would love to be more involved in Billies Buddies.

This is something I am passionate about.”

He could transition into an assistant coaching role at the Storm when he hangs the boots up, which could be at the end his contract in 2017.

Slater admitted seeing Storm coach Craig Bellamy’s stress levels made him think twice about picking up a clipboard.

“Probably a little bit,” Slater joked.

“He works extremely hard and he’s extremely passionate about what he does.

“Coaching is not out of the question... maybe, we will see, but I’m not thinking about that at the moment. My main focus is playing at the moment. I enjoy the coaching side of things. I worked with the coaching staff at the Nines when I was injured and I really enjoyed it. I enjoy the responsibility I have at fullback and helping the young guys coming through improve their communication.

“Communication on field is a natural strength of mine. There have been many areas of my game that didn’t come naturally

Billy Slater – “The Great Communicator”. Image: Contributed

We Wore the Purple and Green captures the struggle of a small community to join their bigger neighbours in one the most respected rugby league competitions in the world. Well into the 1980’s the Foley Shield was regarded as the strongest country rugby league competition in Australia and a stepping stone for bigger things. The Whitsunday Rugby League had almost immediate success playing in two Foley Shield Finals in their first five seasons and winning the Foley Shield in 1973.

The book captures what happened in sport in regional Australia with the mechanisation of the sugar and coal industries and the move by governments to take business opportunities away from the country. Prior to the Foley Shield the many great players of the smaller regions stayed, played and worked in the community but with the exposure of the State League in the early 1980’s and the movement of our better players to the Brisbane and Sydney clubs it was inevitable that the smaller communities would struggle.

Tony Price gives his sometimes controversial opinion about the state of the game and the impact on the small regions, but when it is all said and done, it’s a great read and if you are passionate about the game it’s great value. The champion teams and champion players of the time are captured in the 378 pages that contain 445 photos, many in colour.

Available online – www.morethanthefoleyshield.com.au 35 LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

the

WOMEN IN LEAGUE THE QUEENSLAND WOMEN’S team won the inter-state crown during the 2015 season with their 4/4 draw at Townsville’s 1300 Smiles Stadium enough to give them bragging rights over the Blues for the 17th consecutive time. Led by Steph Hancock, the daughter of Maroons legend Rohan Hancock, the girls in maroon did the state proud. In a high pressure game Chelsea Baker scored a try on debut to give her team a 4/0 lead at half-time but New South Wales equalised through an Isabella Kelly try late in the game.

Almost 6,000 girls play the game in Queensland which is the largest growth area in the QRL with teams from Cairns in the north to the Gold Coast. Almost 3,000 of the players are in the junior ranks with outstanding quality throughout the state. QRL Development Officer Renae Kunst, a fixture in Australian teams for the last nine seasons, feels that the girls have a tremendous will to succeed.

The game has tremendous growth in regional Queensland with some areas like the Central Highlands going ahead in leaps and bounds while the Northern Division has a strong hold in the Cairns and Far North Queensland areas. The Central Highlands Junior Rugby League recently received a $10,000.00 grant from the Holden Home Ground Advantage Program to develop the competition in that area. The Central Division has one of the strongest ladies competitions in the state with five teams competing in the Central Highlands, a six team competition featuring Gladstone, Rockhampton and Woorabinda while three teams play in the Bundaberg competition. Heading south-west there are teams in the Central West, Charleville and Maranoa and five Open teams will play in this year’s 47th Battalion Shield being Central Highlands, Central Queensland, Bundaberg, Sunshine Coast and South West.

- TONY PRICE

Renae Kunst, a veteran after nine seasons playing for Queensland and Australia Image: Courtesy QRL 36

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Cassowary Coast v Eacham.

Image: Courtesy Jenny McGrory

OUR SHERRIFF ELECTRICAL GOOD GUYS OF THE MONTH

JOHN & ANN SHORT, TOMMY RAUDONIKIS & REDCLIFFE RUGBY LEAGUE UNDER 18 TEAM

I was in Brisbane late in February telling former Brisbane Brothers and North Queensland forward, John Short about my soon-to-be-released “League Queensland” magazine and how I wanted it to be different. I wanted to write about the guys I describe as the ‘Bread and Butter People’. They are the people who make a difference but mostly get no recognition and never want it anyway.

Shorty who is in partnership with New South Wales legend, Tommy Raudonikis in Greenstar Supplies mentioned how a former team mate of his from Ayr was heavily involved in a project called “Helping Hands” whereby the Rotary Clubs around Australia with the support of the community build and assemble prosthetic limbs for the hundreds of thousands of people, mostly children who have lost limbs because of the more than 120 million land-mines planted around the world.

It appears that with our great military budgets we are good at planting these mines but our clearance rates of less than 100,000 per year leave a bit to be desired. It is estimated that there are around 384,000 people with one or both hands missing and Rotary are on a mission to assist those people.

When I tried to contact Shorty’s mate, Peter Gibbs he was in Sri Lanka with an Australian Rotary Team. They had fitted 100 hands the day I spoke to him and would assemble another 350 before he returned to Brisbane. Rotary are delivering prosthetic Hands into war effected Cambodia & Sri Lanka and basically need as much support as they can get from the Australian public.

The City of Redcliffe Rotary Club with support from Greenstar Supplies, Redcliffe Rugby League and a couple of other sponsors had an assembly night on the 16th March at the Leagues Club and it’s obvious the boys enjoyed giving a hand.

I don’t believe that many people in Australia where our biggest problem most days is finding enough loose change to buy a $5.00 cup of coffee have any idea what a missing hand is to a young frightened child in Sri Lanka, Cambodia or most African countries. It destines that young child to a life of poverty and poverty breeds contempt for the people who plant the mines and more to the point the powerful western countries who condone what is happening.

A ‘Helping Hand’ like the one attached to 10 year old Sokha Vi from Cambodia in October 2014 by Rotary give her the opportunity to write and assist and be part of a struggling community. The good guys like Peter Gibbs and his team at City of Redcliffe Rotary cannot function without the support of the other good guys like John & Ann Short, Tommy and Redcliffe Rugby League and we thank them for that. If you feel you can assist and give a helping hand please contact the City of Redcliffe Rotary Club on 1300 864 441. They also have an address if people want to donate which is RAWCS or send an email to Peter Gibbs at peter@ivn.com.au

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SHERRIFF ELECTRICAL

WHOLESALERS A LOCAL BUSINESS PUTTING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY

It happens every day around Queensland where a local business helps a rugby league club and in the case of Sherriff Electrical Wholesalers they spread their support all over the State.

From assisting with major projects like the field lighting at the home of the Herbert River Crushers in Ingham to supplying a tent and lunch for teams playing in the Under 13 Nate Myles Carnival recently held in Cairns, the staff from Sherriff Electrical Wholesalers will always be around.

Sherriff electrical was one of the team sponsors who helped at the Nate Myles Carnival held on the 9th and 10th of April 2016.

There were 20 teams participating from Bowen, Townsville, Cairns and Surrounding areas over the weekend.

Sherriff Electrical Townsville are proud sponsors of the Herbert River Crushers in the local TDRL competition. Sherriff has been

sponsoring the club since 2012 in helping supply the 3 senior grades with training gear. Pictured below are Jared Cockburn (Sales Representative) and Mitchell Seri (Crushers A-grade half back). Jared has been a lifelong player for the Ingham based club and has been fortunate to give back to his local side in the form of sponsorship. Also supplying the on field lighting for their home ground at Fairford Road.

The Sherriff Electrical staff have also donated more than 200 magazines to Mal Meninga Cup and Cyril Connell Cup players in regional Queensland. It is the intention of the management of Sherriff Electrical Wholesalers and their parent company to assist throughout Queensland with the NRL’s literacy program whereby hundreds of copies of “League Queensland” will be delivered on a monthly basis to schools, Queensland wide.

Sherriff Electrical Wholesalers Jared Cockburn with Herbert Rivers Mitchell Seri Image: Alix Sweeney

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Tony Roberts (far left), Branch Manager of Sheriff Electrical Wholesalers, Cairns, his staff and the Northern Pride Under 18 Mal Meninga Cup Team. Image: Courtesy Northern Pride

Sherriff Electrical Wholesalers lighting up the Herbert River Crushers field. Image: Contributed

Edmonton Storm Under 13’s at Nat Myles Carnival Image: Courtesy Tony Roberts

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A S I T N U O M F O N E THE MIGHT Y M Isa’ slowly ty Men of Mount eaded – ‘The Migh dr s am te ng iti ad vis ed John Re A sight that many Image: Contribut ding the parade. with Vern Daisy lea

If you never saw a Mount Isa team play in the much respected Foley Shield from 1968 until the demise of the competition in the late 1980’s you might wonder why they should be the first of my “Mighty Teams” segment. This isolated mining town dominated a competition that produced players like Dale Shearer, Kerry Boustead, Martin Bella, Greg Dowling, Gene Miles, Sam Backo, Angelo Crema and Lionel Williamson. In fact while all these wonderful players went on to represent Australia with distinction, none of them played in a winning Foley Shield Final against Mount Isa. In another mark of the way Mount Isa dominated a competition is the statistic that while they were the champion team of their era they never produced one International and only George Radeck (1980) played for Queensland during their era of dominance. The reason for the success of Mount Isa as a Foley Shield team was simply because from 1968 until the mid-1980’s they played in the toughest club competition in Queensland. I would suggest that the Brisbane competition of the 1970’s was a better quality with representative players at every club but many went to Mount Isa as paid players and never made the Foley Shield team.

The history of rugby league in Mount Isa goes back to 1923 when a young aboriginal man by the name of Kabalulumana led John Campbell Miles to what was one of the world’s richest deposits of copper, silver and zinc.

The construction of the town commenced almost immediately and by 1929 a club competition had started. Distance was always the Mount Isa Rugby League’s biggest obstacle and despite the fact that “The Isa” played in several North Queensland Country Carnivals on the coast in the early 1930’s, winning in 1932, they were isolated opportunities and not encouraged by the North Queensland Rugby League. A big winger, Lacey Walton played for North Queensland against Great Britain in 1936 but it took a Second World War to bring attention to the far western league.

Two youngsters watching Lacey Walton and others from the side-line would go on to being Mount Isa Rugby League’s biggest exports. They were a young Pat ‘Cocky’ McMahon who was 40

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walking onto the

field

nine years old when Lacey Walton played against the ‘Poms’ in Townsville and his Sisters of St Joseph Primary School team mate, Bobby Bax. By the mid 1940’s McMahon and Bax had left school and were playing for Mount Isa Brothers in the local league. The Australian Army played several games against a North West Queensland team that included Bax at half-back and McMahon in the centres. The army team led by former Australian forward Ray Stehr were impressed by the style of ‘Cocky’ and suggested that he try his luck in Toowoomba which was a power-house of Queensland rugby league in those days. McMahon went to Souths in Toowoomba in 1946 and the rest is history. In his first season in Toowoomba he played for Queensland and Australia and by the time he retired in 1956 he had played eight tests for Australia, toured with the 1948/49 Kangaroos and played 15 games for Queensland.

His school-mate, Bobby Bax had stayed in Mount Isa and at the end of the 1946 season he ran onto the Townsville Sports Reserve as half-back in the Mount Isa team that defeated Proserpine 28/11 in the North Queensland B Grade Final. Bax was simply outstanding and won the coveted Heatley Blazer as the player of the game. The talent scouts saw Bax and he joined Brisbane Brothers in 1947. Although he did play for Brisbane in the Bulimba Cup it was as a coach that Bobby Bax came to the attention of the rugby league public. In a coaching career that spanned several decades he won Grand Finals with several country clubs as well as taking either Brothers or Norths to every Grand Final from 1956 until 1970, winning the premiership in 1956, 1958 (Brothers) and 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1969 (Norths).

While McMahon and Bax were showing the rugby league world what Mount Isa could produce, the mighty men that stayed home were finding it difficult to find opponents. Following their 1946 success the Mount Isa Rugby League was discouraged from playing on the coast and for several seasons Hughenden dominated the western competition. By 1952 the tide had turned and Mount Isa won the B Grade Championships in three successive seasons. From 1956 until the mid-1960’s the coastal teams blocked the attempts of Mount Isa to join the Foley Shield and apart from a couple of visiting International teams like France in 1964 the frustrations of the locals was only let out through club football. During this period Mount Isa kept

exporting players with Glen Brown (Toowoomba) and Tony Scott (Townsville), both playing for Queensland in 1965.

1968 was a great year for ‘The Isa’ as they were invited begrudgingly into the Foley Shield with the support of the North West Queensland votes. The mighty miners proved they were up for the challenge, defeating 1967 Foley Shield champions Townsville 24/18 in their first game but better things were to come.

Several newcomers to the Mount Isa ranks in 1969 included Vern Daisy and Billy Bawden from the Burdekin while several key players from the previous season in Terry Hammond, Ken Mucken and Bruno Cullen were making a mark in the mining town. The club-hardened Mount Isa team swept all before them in 1969, winning their first Foley Shield with a hard fought 12/9 victory over Townsville. Over the next 20 seasons the mighty men from Mount Isa played in eleven Foley Shield Finals, winning on nine occasions compared to big-city rivals Cairns winning five from six, Townsville one from nine (also a draw) and Mackay one from three.

What was the deciding factor in the success of Mount Isa? When interviewed in 2014 when I wrote “More than the Foley Shield”, Paul Laffin told me that playing in the weekly club football was much harder than the Foley Shield. Laffin said he would be physically ill in the dressing room before a club game as every club had a strong roster and no game was taken for granted.

He went on to say that playing Foley Shield football was a breeze in comparison and his record of a perfect six victories

from six attempts in the Foley Shield is hard to compare. The hard-men of Mount Isa were legendary with Terry Hammond, Billy Bawden, Glen Brown, John Grew and Vern Daisy never known to take a backward step while the silky skills of players like Dennis Yamaguchi, Ian Williams and Bruno Cullen complimented their toughness. The fiery clashes between John Grew, who coached Mount Isa to three successive Foley Shields (1977 – 1979), and Vern Daisy in club football were terrible things to watch but a week later they would pack down in a great Mount Isa Foley Shield side. Grew was an amazing player, he was tough, could kick goals, pass a ball and coached three different Mount Isa club teams to premierships in three seasons while playing.

The Daisy Brothers, Vern and Frank are legends in North Queensland Rugby League with Frank playing in a record eight Foley Shield Finals, only losing in 1974 and 1984, with victories in 1972, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1985 and 1988. His record would have been more impressive as he played in the Burdekin when Mount Isa won in 1977 and was suspended when the miners won in 1983. Frank was a full back with great skills who became a forward with equal ability late in his career. Vern Daisy was a magnificent rugby league player who had all the skills to make it in any grade of rugby league. His ball playing ability was second to none and he was as tough as most players who wore a jersey.

Both were great competitors but it was team-spirit and an unrivalled passion to win that made Mount Isa the undisputed kings of the Foley Shield and worthy recipients as one of my “League Queensland Mighty Teams”.

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THE MAL MENINGA CUP The classy Blackhawks Mal Meninga Cup team with Townsville Sherriff Electrical manager, Jared Cockburn (left) and Queensland Manager, Ian Jones (right)

The 2016 Mal Meninga Cup for Under 18’s was played over seven rounds from the 5th March until the 17th April. The 16 team competition consisted of four groups of four with Townsville Blackhawks, Northern Pride, Mackay Cutters and CQ Capras being in Pool A. Another four regional Queensland teams in the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Ipswich Diggers, Central Crows and Toowoomba Clydesdales in Pool B while Pool C consisted of Norths Devils, Wynnum Seagulls, Redcliffe Dolphins and a team from the Victorian Rugby League. Pool D consisted of Souths Logan, Easts Tigers and two Gold Coast teams named Green and White.

In Pool A the 2015 premiers, the Townsville Blackhawks went through the pool rounds undefeated winning six from six including 50/6, 50/8 and 70/12 mauling’s to take a positive 191 points differential into the quarter-finals. They played Victoria who came second in Pool C defeating them 48/6 to advance to the semi-finals. Their Tully signing Jake Clifford, grand-son of the legendary Danny Clifford, scored 66 points for the Blackhawks in their seven games and is a star of the future.

The fast improving Capras knocked the Northern Pride out of second spot in Pool A but were knocked out of the competition by Norths Devils who won Pool C 36/32 at Bishop Park. The Mackay Cutters struggled all season and only scored 38 points in their six games while leaking a huge 262 in defence.

In Pool B the Sunshine Coast Falcons had a very impressive season winning all six games with their Braydon Trindall scoring 13 tries in his 78 points, which was the most in the 42

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Mal Meninga Cup competition. Trindall was one of the Cyril Connell Cup players from 2015 who went down in a nail-biter to Townsville 31/30 in extra time. The Falcons had the best attack in the Mal Meninga Cup with 332 and more importantly the best defence, only allowing a miserly 48 points through in six games.

The Falcons defeated Easts Tigers 26/12 in the quarter finals. Ipswich Diggers came second in Pool B with four wins from six games and played Gold Coast White in the quarter-finals.

Toowoomba came last in Pool B with their best result being a 40/40 draw against Central Crows.

The Pool C winners as mentioned were Norths Devils who lost one game against Victoria on their way to the finals.

Their Gerome Burns scored 78 of the teams 180 points while they had 86 scored against them for a positive 94 points differential. Second in Pool C were Victoria who won four of their six games in a much improved showing but struggled to match the Blackhawks in Townsville. Sale Finau from Victoria scored 64 points for the season.

The Pool D winners were Gold Coast White with four wins from their six games and the only team in the pool with a positive point’s differential. Gold Coast White defeated Ipswich 36/12 to advance to the semi-finals. Easts Tigers who came second in Pool D actually leaked 144 points while scoring 111 in their three wins.

- TONY PRICE

THE CYRIL CONNELL CUP Norths Devils high-flying Cyril Connell Cup team who are leading the competition in 2016 Image: Courtesy Norths Devils

The standout team after the six playing rounds of the Cyril Connell Cup was Norths Devils who were the only undefeated team in the sixteen team competition.

Norths who played in Pool C alongside Redcliffe, Wynnum and Victoria scored 192 points while conceding 76 which was the best defensive effort in the competition. Norths continued their dominance in the first quarter-final played on the 23rd April defeating Northern Pride 50/8 at Bishop Park with Jarrett Subloo taking his points to the season to 78 including eight tries.

The Prides Mallie Tom scored seven tries for the season to tier with three others in second spot. Redcliffe and Wynnum had disappointing seasons finishing with one win apiece in Pool C. The Pool A winners were the Townsville Blackhawks who finished in front of the Northern Pride on points differential as they both won five of six games played. The Blackhawks defeated the Pride 24/22 in round one while the Pride took the honours 30/24 at Barlow Park in round six. The Mackay Cutters with two wins finished in front of a disappointing Capras who never won a game. The Townsville team defeated Victoria in the quarter finals 30/14 after the southern team came a creditable second in Pool C behind Norths. Jacob Reedy-Bartlett scored seven tries for the Victorian team in their seven games while Mackenzie Baker for the Blackhawks scored eight.

Pool B was taken out by Toowoomba with five wins from their six games in front of Ipswich with four from six. The Falcons were disappointing winning two games with a negative point’s differential of 52 while the Crows managed one win from their five games. Toowoomba defeated Gold Coast Green in their quarter-final 38/36 with their half-back and captain, Corey Paix scoring a try to take his tally to 13 for the season and an amazing 102 points in seven games. Ipswich were beaten by Souths Logan in the quarter final.

Souths Logan won Pool D with five wins from six games and an impressive 206/98 points differential giving them 13 competition points to take second place on the ladder behind Norths. Their Sebastian Winters-Long scored seven tries in a strong display.

Souths Logan defeated Ipswich 32/12 in the quarter-finals. Gold Coast Green came second in Pool D with six wins but went down in a nail-biter 38/36 in their quarter-final to Toowoomba. Gold Coast White only won two games from six while Easts Tigers were the only team in the Cyril Connell Cup to not register a victory.

- TONY PRICE

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THEY PLAYED THE GAME

BY T O N Y P R I C E WITH AS S IS TANC E FROM T HE Q U E E N S L A N D O F F ICE O F THE MEN OF L EA GUE FO U N D A T I ON There is always sadness when one of the rugby league fraternity dies but it is also an occasion to sit back and relate the good times, funny times, great games and magnificent deeds that these players and officials were involved in. I wish their families and friends well. Players and officials mentioned below include:Greg Sutherland (Mackay) – died 1st November 2015 Mike Keim (Warwick, Burdekin) – died 25th December 2015 Alan Toomey (Ayr, Mackay, Proserpine) – died 28th December 2015 Steve Dick (Brisbane Brothers, Queensland) – died 20th January 2016 Dan Whelan (Mundubbera) – died 23rd January 2016 Gerry Coonan (Whitsunday, Eacham) – died 1st February 2016 Greg Rigby (Darwin, Mount Isa, Cairns, Burdekin, Mackay, North Queensland) – died 12th March 2016 Ron Wilkinson (Rockhampton Norths, Brothers, Australian Manager) – died 19th March 2016 Dud Beattie (Ipswich Railways, Queensland, Australia) – died 19th April 2016 Over many years I have come across hundreds of people who loved the game of rugby league, some were players, others supporters and every now and then I’d come across a person who really made a difference to the game. One of those people was Mackay’s Greg Sutherland. Greg died in November 2015 and if there has ever been a bigger funeral in Mackay I never saw it. No person probably since the great Jack O’Brien has contributed more to rugby league in Mackay and to a certain extent the North Queensland area. I was out of the rugby league circle in the period when Greg Sutherland took over the reins of the Mackay Rugby League but looked on with interest from afar. It was obvious to me that he was a person who had that natural ability to get things done and was not simply a bureaucrat like the many that procrastinate and hold the game back. Sutherland had the foresight to see months and years in advance and his recognition of women in league, indigenous rugby league and the need for a major stadium in Mackay was a major contributing factor in the success of all three. The thing that made Greg different was his ability to communicate with people across the whole spectrum of 44

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Greg Sutherland mage: Courtesy Mackay Men of League

life. One journalist wrote about Greg Sutherland organising a game between the Cowboys and the Newcastle Knights in 2004, an event that bought a huge economic boost to Mackay.

The next day, Greg was there picking up the rubbish around the oval. While Sutherland had the ability to communicate with all levels of government from prime ministers down he also had the ability to delegate which is a forgotten art in this world of eternal bureaucracy. Although ill for the last few years Greg Sutherland was one of my strongest supporters in my quest to write the history of the game in North Queensland and I thank him for that. Greg Sutherland was a Life Member of the North Queensland Rugby League and the Oval at Mackay Stadium is called the Greg Sutherland Oval in his honour.

MIKE KEIM was all that rugby league is about. A great team mate who played with Wayne Bennett in the 1965 Warwick Under 18 premiership winning team, he spent several years in the Burdekin playing in the Barry Muir-coached Colts team that won the 1970 premiership. He played Foley Shield for the Burdekin in 1970 alongside Muir and Les Cahill who had played for Queensland that season. He later returned to Warwick where he was heavily involved in community activities for many years. Despite a leukaemia diagnosis 21 years ago, Mike battled on through operations, treatments and setbacks - always with a positive attitude and a smile. His battle sparked many years of service with the Warwick and District branch of the Leukaemia Foundation and he and his wife Ros were champions of the cause. One of his last big tasks was organising the Warwick Collegians 50-year reunion in May 2015.

ALAN TOOMEY was one of the key people in the revival of rugby league in the Whitsunday area in the early 1970s.

Originally from the Burdekin, Alan played for Mackay Souths (1964/1965) and Foley Shield for Mackay in 1964. He signed with Proserpine in 1966 and played front-row in the Proserpine team that lost the North Queensland B Grade Final to Hughenden. Toomey played out his career with Proserpine and was in the 1969 Whitsunday team that made their debut into the Foley Shield competition. A great committee man he turned to coaching in 1973 and with former International Les Hanigan coaching the A Grade, Alan took on the reigns of “Toomey’s Tigers” in the reserve grade. This is the only team to my knowledge that never wore Proserpine’s green and white jerseys as they wore Balmain jerseys with the black and gold tiger emblem. “Toomey’s Tigers” won the 1973 Whitsunday reserve grade premiership. This was the first of eight consecutive reserve grade premierships but it was the great team spirit created by Alan Toomey that started it all.

Alan Toomey was a likeable bloke who had the ability to see what was required to make a football team gel and it was no coincidence that some of his protégée went on to become giants of the game in the Whitsunday region.

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THE Y P L A Y E D THE G AME - CO NTI NUED STEVE DICK was a classy five-eight who served in the Royal Australian Navy during the Second World War. He played for Brisbane Brothers and represented Brisbane in the Bulimba Cup in 1949, 1950 and 1952. Brisbane won the Cup in 1949 and 1950 with Dick playing five-eighth. He played a total of nine Bulimba Cup games and won the man of the match for his three-try effort in his team’s 57/7 defeat of Toowoomba in 1949. That season he had played in the centres in the main Queensland selection trial but was overlooked for state selection but after Queensland had lost the first and second interstate games Dick was called into the Queensland side to replace Harry Griffiths for the third game which was played in Brisbane on July 23rd. New South Wales won the game 44/20 with John Graves (4 tries) and Ron Roberts (3 tries) starring for the blues. Griffiths was recalled for the fourth game but New South Wales took a clean sweep of the series winning 33/13.

DAN WHELAN was a former coach and sports administrator from Mundubbera. He was chairman of the Central Burnett Rugby League and held an executive position for 15 years.

The small Central Burnett township of Mundubbera was in mourning after the loss of former player, coach and sport administrator Dan “Danny” Whelan who passed away on 23rd January. A great competitor in both rugby league and cricket, Dan made a significant impact off the field as Chairman of the Central Burnett Rugby League. Each year, he would strive for a rugby league competition within the district. Dan held an executive position on the league for 15 years and with strong support from his wife Faye, a North Burnett Regional Councillor, and long serving Secretary/Treasurer Mary Nelson, was able to achieve great things for his much loved community. A strong-willed and good-humoured man, Dan was also well known in the horse racing fraternity throughout country Queensland as a bookmaker, making annual trips to the Birdsville races despite being burdened by ill health. There is no doubt the sporting and general public of the Burnett and Wide Bay districts will miss this great servant and supporter

Greg Rigby, Captain/Coach Ayr

46

Brothers 1971 – Burdekin Rug

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of sport, in particular our great game of rugby league. Dan is survived by his wife Faye, children Andrea, Justin and Shannon and seven grandchildren.

GERRY COONAN - In my lifetime watching rugby league in North Queensland I have seen some very talented fiveeighths and one of the best was the classy Gerry Coonan.

Whitsunday came last in the Southern Zone of the Foley Shield in 1972 and won the Foley Shield in 1973 with Coonan directing play. While in Proserpine Gerry Coonan wrote his own rugby league magazine on a weekly basis and was a real character. He returned to Sydney in 1974 but in 1977 won the North Queensland Player of the Year at Eacham. Gerry loved rugby league and was one of the real personalities I met over 50 years following the game. The game needs characters and is poorer for his passing.

GREG RIGBY was a former Brisbane Souths junior and Queensland Schoolboys rugby league player who travelled Australia plying his trade. He first came onto the rugby league scene winning a premiership with Brothers in Darwin in 1967 and in 1968 was playing for Mount Isa in their first season in the Foley Shield. His magnificent 1968 season included a premiership with Brothers, played for North West Queensland against Great Britain in Mount Isa and played for North Queensland in the State Trials. He was injured early in the 1969 season and signed for Ivanhoes in Cairns in 1970. During the 1970 season he won a premiership with Ivanhoes, won the Hanush Blazer as the Best Player on the Ground in Cairns defeat of Townsville in the Foley Shield Final and partnered Darryl Van De Velde in the centres when North Queensland played Great Britain in Townsville. Rigby took on the player/coach position with Burdekin Brothers in 1971, winning a premiership and stayed there as a paid player until 1975, winning another club title in 1972. Greg Rigby was a larger than life character loved by many and sadly missed by the rugby league community.

by League Premiers. Image: Cou rtesy Burdekin Rug

by League

RON WILKINSON was born in Winton on 23rd July, 1929.

During depression times life was hard and Ron took on the butchering trade at an early age. The family moved to Rockhampton and Ron eventually moved into his own butcher shop. He played football for Rockhampton clubs Norths and Brothers and was on Norths committees being their delegate to the Rockhampton Rugby League. He was president of the Rockhampton League 1986 to 1990 and delegate to Central Division.

Ron was president of the Central Division from 1991 to 2002 and delegate to the Queensland Rugby League (12 years).

He served on the Australian Rugby League Board and was co-manager of the Kangaroos Tour to Great Britain in 1994.

Ron was on the Rockhampton Leagues Club board 1977 to 1992 (15 years) including as chairman 1981 to 1992 (12 years). Ron was a life Member of the Rockhampton Leagues Club, Rockhampton Rugby League, Central Division Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League.

“From Winton to Wembley” was a phrase often used by Ron seen here with 1994 Australian coach, Bob Fulton Image: Contributed

on (back) mussen and Jimmy Paters ders including Elton Ras slan een Qu en sev h wit 0 Mail archives 1st Test vs France in 196 Image: Courtesy Courier and Gary Parcell in front.

Dud Beattie, Noel Kelly

and Barry Muir,

DUD BEATTIE was simply one of Queensland’s greatest forwards in an era when international rugby league was what the game was all about. A player who never strayed from his home town of Ipswich where he went onto represent Queensland and Australia for many years. He first came into grade playing for his beloved Railways in 1953 and continued with the club until he retired in 1962. During this period he won premierships in 1954, 1958 and 1960 and played 27 games for Ipswich in the Bulimba Cup including five as captain. Dud played his first game against an International team when he ran onto the field for Ipswich against the magnificent 1955 Frenchmen and in 1956 he played against the New Zealand Maori team.

Beattie was a member of the Ipswich team that won the Bulimba Cup in 1957 and 1958. He made his Queensland debut against the touring 1958 Great Britain team and represented the state on 19 occasions.

Dub Beattie was part of the magnificent 1959 Queensland team that defeated New South Wales and alongside his Ipswich team-mate Noel Kelly he made his Australian debut on the 13th June that year on the Sydney Cricket Ground in the 1st test against New Zealand. Beattie scored his team’s only try in the 9/8 victory and after retaining his spot for the three test series was selected to tour with the 1959/1960 Kangaroos. Beattie was an automatic selection in the Australian team for the 1st test won 22/14 by the Kangaroos but injury kept him out of the 2nd test won by Great Britain. Dud Beattie was back for the 3rd and deciding test won by Great Britain and played in the first two tests against France.

Dub Beattie returned to England and France with the 1960 World Cup team and played in all three International games against New Zealand, Great Britain and France as well as a game for the ‘Rest of the World’ against Cup winners Great Britain. Beattie later toured New Zealand and played his last test against Great Britain in 1962.

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Thank God for the Irish

The Magnificent Jack Fihelly The Irish can be thanked more than any other nation for the introduction of rugby league into Queensland and foremost in the Irish contingent was the magnificent Jack Fihelly. Born at Timoleague, County Cork on the 7th November 1882 he migrated to Australia with his parents in 1883 as they could see Australia as a land of opportunity away from the repression of an English dominated Ireland.

After attending Petrie State School he went to St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace where he stayed until he entered the Post Office in 1895 as a telegram messenger boy. He later worked for the Department of Trade and Customs where he was when approached to start rugby league in Brisbane. Jack Fihelly was a great rugby union forward who played in the Gregory Terrace 1st XV alongside future rugby league team mates, Micky and Eddie Dore. In “Brave and Game”, a history of St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace rugby union, Fihelly is listed as player 30(page 12) with the Dore brothers 28 and 29.

Jack Fihelly quickly made his mark as a rugby union player alongside former school-mate, Peter Flanagan and he represented Queensland eleven times from 1905 – 1907.

During the 1907 season he played for Queensland and Australia (2nd test in Brisbane) against the All Blacks. To say that Jack Fihelly was a prime suspect in the introduction of rugby league in Brisbane was an understatement as conservative authority was his enemy and along with Micky Dore his thoughts went to a game whereby the player was compensated for time off. Most of the key people that formed the Queensland Rugby Football Association were of Irish descent including Fihelly, Sine Boland, Micky Dore, Jack O’Connor and EL ‘Buck’ Buchanan. Secrecy was the key to their meetings but for an Irishman who had been subjected to British oppression for centuries that was an everyday 48

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occurrence.

During the 1908 season the Queensland Rugby Union had selected teams to play New South Wales and omitted Fihelly and Dore so when invited to play against the visiting Maori rugby league team alongside future rugby league internationals; Doug McLean, George Watson and Bob Tubman they took up the challenge.

The Queensland Rugby Union expelled all 13 players plus Bob Beattie the referee so the rugby league game was up and running in the sunshine state. He played seven league games for Queensland in their inaugural season and was selected to tour with the 1909 Kangaroos to England. I will say it did help that he was a selector and the fact that he never played a game on the arduous tour was a mystery to some. Fihelly returned to Australia, retired as a player but continued as a test selector and referee.

Jack’s fiery debating skills ensured that Queensland players dominated any test team selected to play in Brisbane while he was on the panel.

He also referred the 2nd Test against Great Britain in 1910 and was President of the Queensland League from 1914 – 1916.

But there is much more to the Jack Fihelly story as he had been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1906 and soon entered politics. Like many Irish Catholics of the period, he was drawn to the Australian Labor Party, seeing it as a party which was less beholden to the ideals and imagery of the British Empire, than its parliamentary opponents. His interest and involvement in the Labor movement ensured his progress in their parliamentary ranks. He was first elected to the Queensland parliament in 1912, as the Australian Labor Party member for Paddington in the Legislative Assembly.

Fihelly was close to Edward Theodore known as ‘Red Ted’, who was later premier of Queensland. By 1914 he became secretary of the parliamentary Caucus, becoming a minister without portfolio in the Labor Government, a key player in drafting early Workers’ Compensation legislation.

By 1916 Fihelly was the Minister for Justice. As well as being a fine public performer he used his literary skills to write much of the party’s literature. Though far from Ireland, he was happy to raise Irish issues in the parliament. Such was his willingness to support Irish dissidents he was often offside with the Queensland establishment. For example he found himself in a position where the Governor Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams refused to talk to him until he apologised for denouncing the British government’s actions in Ireland after the 1916 Easter uprising. With the Irish uprising of Easter 1916, many associated conscription in Australia as support for British domination in Ireland. Fihelly was prominent in this.

In a speech at the Queensland Irish Association on September 2nd 1916, he stated, ‘that every Irish Australian recruit means

another soldier to assist the British Government to harass the people of Ireland.’

He was emphatic both in his support for Irish liberation, and his opposition to conscription for the war, saying, “Why should the Irishmen of Queensland care whether their motives were misconstrued and misinterpreted?”

The rest of the speech continued in this vein, with its focus on supporting the people of Ireland as they sought to overthrow the English yoke. In the Queensland government of TJ Ryan, himself of Irish descent, were two Irish born Cabinet Ministers, John Fihelly and William Lennon.

A strong pro-Irish sentiment existed in the government at the time but the conservative opposition detested Fihelly to a man. The pejorative term Fihellyism became the currency for conservatives to signify disloyalty to the British Empire, and became equated with pro-German, and pro-Sinn Fein sympathies.

Efforts were made to suspend him from the ministry, but Premier Ryan maintained faith in him.

In February 1922, Fihelly accepted the appointment as agent-general in London but his abrasive manner saw him fall foul of his own party and he resigned. Jack Fihelly left state politics and he moved into local government and held the Paddington seat for Labor until 1930.

The magnificent Jack Fihelly, the true “Pioneer of Queensland Rugby League” passed away in Brisbane on March 2nd 1945, and was buried in Toowong cemetery following a state funeral.

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Rugby League “Thursday Island Style” – the 2015 Northern United and Queensland Outback Teams

RUGBY LEAGUE COUNTRY - TONY PRICE

Rugby League is alive but not well in some parts of Regional Queensland with drought and a fly-in-fly-out work force taking many of the few jobs available in a depressed raw material market. Indeed towns like Mount Isa, Richmond and Hughenden that once fielded magnificent rugby league teams now struggle to put teams on the paddock while workers in Brisbane and Cairns fly in and out of the area on 5-7 day rosters. The glory days from the 1950s into the 1990s are gone. This was the era when Internationals like Mick Crocker, Jack Horrigan, Bobby Banks, Duncan Hall, Noel Kelly and others played in the bush because jobs were a plenty and money was better that the player could make in Sydney.

Suffice to say the Queensland Rugby League has done an excellent job in taking rugby league to the bush over the last few years with incentives like the Intrust Super Cup game between Norths Devils played at Bamaga, the Country Week played in six regional towns in August 2015, the Outback Carnival and subsequent Outback Tour to Thursday Island and the Maroon Nomad that chalked up more than 40,000 kilometres during the season. 2016 will be no exception with several events planned for remote area rugby league.

The Queensland Secondary Schools (QSSRL) Under 15 Carnival will be played in Longreach between the 5th and 8th May and on the 28th May the Queensland Outback Junior Challenge will be played in Winton. Big news for the west is the first ever rugby league to be played in Birdsville when the QRL, Central West Rugby League and the Diamantina Shire Council put on the “Birdsville 9’s” which is sure to attract a few with $10,000.00 in prizemoney.

Stanthorpe Gremlins won the 2015 Border League Grand Final with a 35/10 defeat of Wallangarra Rams but after two rounds of the 2016 competition Tenterfield lead the field with two wins including a 50/28 defeat of Inglewood while Wallangarra joined Inglewood with one win in front of Stanthorpe/Texas and Killarney who have yet to register a victory.

The 2015 season in Mount Isa saw Wanderers take out the six team competition with a hard fought 40/36 victory in extra time over Town. The “Devils” will be favourites again in 2016 with a team that includes several members of the Queensland Outback Team. Cloncurry look like they will field a formidable team with Craig Mosley, Alan Atkins, Jeffrey Wilson and the Crisp brothers being prominent. Normanton played well during the 2015 season but the closure of Century Mine has hurt them more than any of the other clubs.

Although early days Black Stars look like they will improve in 2016 with Dave Wilson coming back after a season on the sideline and Louie Mothe also looking the goods. Brothers, one of the great Mount Isa clubs of the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, have a good crop of juniors and a new coach. After two rounds of the competition Normanton on four points lead Black Stars, Town, Wanderers and Cloncurry on two with Brothers yet to register a win.

In the drought ravaged Central West the Winton Devils defeated the Ilfracombe Scorpions 26/4 in the 2015 decider and look the goods after two rounds of the 2016 competition defeating Longreach 64/12 in round two while Blackall defeated Illfracombe 28/16. Winton lead the competition on four points followed by Illfracombe and Blackall on two with Longreach and Barcaldine yet to register a win.

Image: Courtesy Chris Waters (Queensland Outback Team Manager)

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