League Queensland - December 2016

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COMPLIMENTARY

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

TEN FROM ELEVEN QUEENSLANDER’S IN THE NRL MAL’S KANGAROOS DOWN MEMORY LANE RUGBY LEAGUE COUNTRY

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CONTENT 4 9 21 26 28 37 40 45 47

Ten from Eleven – That’s good!

Queenslander’s in the NRL Rangers win well for Queensland Goodna too good against Brothers Roosters v Cowboys in Mackay 2017 Mal’s Kangaroos too good for Kiwis Down Memory Lane Mighty Ivanhoes back on top Rugby League Country

From the editor 2016 has been a marvellous rugby league season with all three Queensland NRL teams making the finals, Queensland winning the Origin Series and the Maroon contingent in the Australian team continually playing at a high standard. The qualities of Cameron Smith as a player and a man, reached new heights in 2016 and while another Queenslander in Johnathan Thurston is regarded as the World’s Best Rugby League Player, I wonder how many teams would not swap Thurston for Smith.

2017 is just around the corner and with two Origins in Queensland plus the Rugby League World Cup it will be a big year for the game north of the New South Wales border. I suggest with World Cup spots up for grabs the Origin Series and NRL will be the most hotly contested for years. I feel that Queensland must win and must win well to get their fair-share of Australian players in 2017 with a changing of the guard on the horizon.

On the club front the Gold Coast Titan’s signing of New Zealand’s Kevin Proctor was a major coup for the Coast. The Titans are the forgotten team when Queensland sides are selected but they don’t have to improve much to make a serious impact next season.

I feel that the blend of Proctor, Jared Hayne, Nathan Peats and Konrad Hurrell will give the Titans that ‘Gallen, Ennis, Lewis’ feel that Cronulla experienced in 2016.

The North Queensland Cowboys are another year older and the battle-weary Thurston, Scott and Cooper will be relying on their International partners in Michael Morgan, Jason O’Neill and Jason Taumalolo to lead from the front next season. They probably have the best breeding ground in the NRL and will be around the money next September with Coen Hess a ‘smoky’ to play for Australia.

The Brisbane Broncos are in a rebuilding phase in my opinion and must get better value out of James Roberts, Ben Hunt and Josh McGuire to be a premiership threat.

They missed Justin Hodges in 2016 but the departure of Dale Copley to the Roosters and the career ending injury to Jack Reed left them exposed in the centres. Darius Boyd was their best in 2016 while Anthony Milford must play for Queensland in 2017.

I feel that the key to the Broncos in 2017 is the backline. Get that right and they will be a contender.

The highlight of the 2016 season to me was the First State of Origin in Sydney and the emergence of Valentine Holmes as a quality Australian player while the low point was the selection of Semi Radradra in the Australian team. I cannot possibly see what benefit this selection has done to improve the game in Australia while it has damaged the game in Fiji which already had amazing success with the Gold Medal performance of their Rugby 7’s team.

2017 will be a big year for ‘League Queensland’ as we move to bi-monthly magazines with a huge historical content.

We will relive the great moments in rugby league while still concentrating on the game at all levels around Queensland. In closing I’d like to thank the sponsors who made ‘League Queensland’ possible and look forward to the 2017 season with anticipation Kind regards,

Publisher: League Queensland is wholly owned by Tony and Carmel Price. ABN: 15 808 728 009.

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@leaguequeensland.com.au Graphic Art: Kartia Designs www.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 at leaguequeensland.com.au On the cover: Matt Gillett and Sam Thaiday, William Bugden, (Photo: SMP Images).

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

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TEN FROM ELEVEN THAT’S GOOD

Photo: SMP Images

Position

Game (I)

Game (II)

Game (III)

Fullback

Darius Boyd

Darius Boyd

Darius Boyd

Winger

Corey Oates

Corey Oates

Corey Oates

Centre

Greg Inglis

Greg Inglis

Greg Inglis

Centre

Justin O’Neill

Justin O’Neill

Justin O’Neill

Winger

Dane Gagai

Dane Gagai

Dane Gagai

5/8

Johnathan Thurston

Johnathan Thurston

Johnathan Thurston

½ Back

Cooper Cronk

Cooper Cronk

Cooper Cronk

Lock

Corey Parker

Corey Parker

Corey Parker

2nd Row

Sam Thaiday

Sam Thaiday

Sam Thaiday

2nd Row

Matt Gillett

Matt Gillett

Matt Gillett

Prop

Matt Scott

Matt Scott

Matt Scott

Hooker

Cameron Smith (c)

Cameron Smith (c)

Cameron Smith (c)

Prop

Nate Myles

Josh McGuire

Nate Myles

Interchange

Michael Morgan

Michael Morgan

Gavin Cooper

Interchange

Josh McGuire

Jacob Lillyman

Josh McGuire

Interchange

Aiden Guerra

Aiden Guerra

Aiden Guerra

Interchange

Josh Papalii

Josh Papalii

Jacob Lillyman

THE Kevin Walters coached Queensland team won their tenth title from eleven attempts in 2016 after taking games One and Two in the three game series. The key to the success of the Queensland team was consistency with the same team from start to finish apart from an injury to Nate Myles which stopped him playing in Game Two. Origin One played in Sydney was a heart-stopper with the Blues favoured to win and a packed house (80,251) turned up baying for Queensland blood. New South Wales never played bad – it was simply that Queensland played better and after 80 4

Cameron Smith

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minutes of high quality rugby league an 6/4 scoreline indicated that ‘Tough” was going to be the order of the 2016 Origin Series.

Queensland put first points on the board when Thurston kicked a penalty following a James Tamou indiscretion but ten minutes later the Blues hit the front when James Maloney ran at the line and put Boyd Cordner over. The normally reliable Adam Reynolds missed the conversion but the Blues led 4/2.

The next twenty minutes were a dress rehearsal for the second half as defence was paramount on both sides. Finally in the 37th minute Queensland ran on the fifth tackle and Gagai

Dane Gagai Photo: SMP Images

scored in the corner to give his team what turned out to be a decisive 6/4 lead.

The second half was gritty with both forward packs never giving an inch.

The always reliable Cameron Smith made 49 tackles followed

by Robbie Farrah (NSW 43), Matt Gillett (36) and Greg Bird (NSW 35). The final score-line of 6/4 with neither team scoring in the second half was matched on the stats sheets as there was nothing to indicate a clear winner. Queensland did the hard yards and won the opening Origin game away from home but statistically it was a draw. The penalties were 4/4, completion rates favoured Queensland slightly at 33/37 compared to 33/39 for the Blues, and possession also favoured Queensland by the smallest of margins at 51% - 49%. Both teams made two line breaks and the errors were six apiece. In 80 minutes of high quality rugby league Queensland made 314 tackles to the Blues 311. The official Man of the Match was Matt Gillett although Dane Gagai with his try and 20 hit-ups would have been hard to toss.

QUEENSLAND, under the coaching of Kevin Walters, won the 2016 State of Origin Series with a 26/16 victory in Game Two in front of 52,293 screaming Maroon fans at Suncorp Stadium.

Former Mackay player Dane Gagai, who only a few days earlier was in doubt to play, scored three tries to add to his one in Origin One to play the game of his life. The Maroons’ captain Cameron Smith probably edged him on the paddock and was officially named the ‘Man of the Match’ but Gagai was inspirational. Apart from a blunder in the 68th minute when he gifted a try to the Blues the number five for Queensland had a magnificent game.

Some experts predicted the Maroon victory and back in May we predicted a 2/1 series win but were not confident. The ‘Old Guard’ for Queensland stood tall with Smith, Inglis, Thurston,

Cronk, Scott, Thaiday, Lillyman and Parker all outstanding with Inglis the baby of the eight at the young age of 29. Matt Scott in our opinion was the best Queensland forward in the opening half and Jacob Lillyman when he came on took the New South Wales forwards on like a great forward should.

Queensland opened the scoring in the 5th minute with a Thurston penalty but Adam Reynolds kicked one for the Blues shortly afterwards and in the 13th minute put his team in front for the first and only time in the game when he kicked another after Sam Thaiday speared Paul Gallen. Gallen was close to the Blues’ best and although the New South Wales media are screaming for change it was the old guard of Gallen, Greg Bird, Robbie Farrah and James Maloney who wore their blue jerseys with pride.

Dane Gagai scored the first of his three tries in the 32nd minute when he plucked a loose Blues’ ball from the air and Thurston’s great conversion gave his team a handy 10/4 advantage at the interval. In the opening 40 minutes the Maroons had 56% of the possession which was a crucial factor late in the second half when the tired Queensland forwards were wilting.

Following the tight opening Origin game in Sydney when one try a piece was scored it was felt that New South Wales would have to score first in the second half but in the 47th minute Gagai accepted a great pass from Darius Boyd to score in the corner and when Thurston nailed it from the sideline the board ticked over to 16/4. The Blues played their best football in the middle of the second half and big Tyson Frizell, who was the best of their ‘Young Brigade’, scored to narrow the gap to 16/10 after the James Maloney conversion.

The Queensland backline was magnificent with Greg Inglis dominant, running 18 times for 148 metres which was better than any player in the New South Wales team but the world’s best ever player Johnathan Thurston proved why he is up there with Bradman as he continually made inroads into the LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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Qld Origin Team – Game Two Image: NRL Photos

Blues’ defence. Thurston had a blinder and quietly kicked three conversions from the sideline in a five-star performance.

Darius Boyd almost scored in the 68th minute but was held up over the line but minutes later Thurston put ball to foot and Gagai ran through to score his third try of the night for a challenging 20/10 lead.

The Maroons were all over the Blues at this stage until the moment when Dane Gagai dropped his guard and his rating went from ten to nine.

Queensland was pressing the New South Wales line when Gagai palmed back a high ball only to James Maloney run 90 metres to score and bring the Blues back into the game at 20/16. In the 71st minute the Blues knocked on over the Queensland line and there was silence in the stands until it was ruled no-try. In the 72nd minute with Queensland pressing the Blues line the old guard of JT and Boyd combined to put big Corey Oates into space and his try gave the Maroons their game winning 26/16 lead.

The New South Wales media commented about ‘time for change’ and the pending retirement of players like Thurston, Smith, Lillyman, Cronk and Company must give them a feeling of better things to come but when you look at the Queensland team that has ten players under 30 plus the ‘bad boys’ who were suspended after their ‘night-out’ at the camp in Brisbane ‘League 6

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Queensland’ feel there is a lot more torment for the Blues in the future.

Of the Queensland younger brigade Josh Papalii was outstanding and at age 24 is going to be a Queensland player for many seasons while Corey Oates, Josh McGuire and Matt Gillett also had strong games. Kevin Walters as coach has showed he’s the man for the job and is quickly stepping out of the shadow of his teachers in Wayne Bennett, Mal Meninga and Craig Bellamy.

The Blues came to Brisbane to win and we feel that the big guys let them down with David Klemmer (116kgs), James Tamou (114kgs) and Andrew Fifita (120kgs) all easy prey for the dominant Maroon forwards while the New South Wales outside backs in Dylan Walker, Blake Ferguson, Michael Jennings and Josh Mansour never turned up. All in all a great night to be a Queenslander with the trophy staying north of the New South Wales border for the tenth time in eleven seasons.

Origin Three – How did we go? 80 minutes of NSW Style Origin consisting of a penalty count that favoured the ‘Blues’ of 12/3 (9/1 in the first half), Queensland made 368 tackles to the Blues 270 and the possession favoured the home team 58% – 42% (61% to 39% in first half) yet we lead 14/12 with six minutes to go. One Sydney journalist (Tim Crawley) writing in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ after the game mentioned that in his opinion Queensland were basically robbed of the game saying that Cooper Cronk should not have been sin-binned and the try to Andrew Fifita should not have been awarded as Jennings was clearly off-side. Crawley went onto say that a penalty count of 10/1 after 50 minutes could not be considered fair and that several of the dubious penalties should not have been given at this level.

A final score-line of 18/14 to the home team could hardly be considered the start of a new era of New South Wales dominance.

The game commenced with Queensland scoring the first try in the 5th minute as Greg Inglis crossed in the corner. Thurston missed the first of several costly attempts at goal. The Blues

took advantage of several crucial Queensland mistakes and in the 21st minute Tyson Frizell who was close to their best on the night scored beside the posts from a great Paul Gallen pass. Maloney kicked the goal and the Blues hit the front 6/4.

Cooper scored near the corner and the conversion narrowed the gap to 12/10. Fifita had been sin-binned for a stupid late attack on Cooper and the momentum changed in Queensland’s favour for the first time in more than 60 minutes.

The pressure was on the Queensland defence with a string of New South Wales penalties growing to 6/1 after 27 minutes and 7/1 when Cronk was sin-binned in the 31st minute. A Queensland team minus Cooper Cronk should have been easy prey for an aggressive New South Wales but despite another two penalties in the closing minutes of the first half the defensive line of the maroon team held with Greg Inglis and Dane Gagai leading the way.

The crowd of 61,267 people, mostly wearing blue cried in anguish in the 74th minute when Darius Boyd scored after a mistake by Josh Mansour but once again the mostly reliable Thurston missed the conversion.

Cronk was still missing when the second half commenced and after a minute big Andrew Fifita scored off a Dane Gagai fumble.

Jennings was clearly off-side but as the punter would say read tomorrow’s paper for the result. Maloney converted the try and the Blues climbed to 12/4 against a tired Queensland team that appeared on the ropes. The penalty count increased with a very dubious call against Inglis for a tackle on Josh Dugan but minutes later the Maroons luck changed when they were given their second penalty of the game.

The board read 14/12 with four minutes of play remaining when the 12th Blues’ penalty of the night was awarded which put the home team on the attack. A magnificent flying tackle

by Cooper Cronk saved a certain Tedesco try on the right side of the field but in the next play a wild pass was picked up by Paul Gallen who found the classy Michael Jennings inside him and his momentum took him over the line with Thurston and Cronk around his legs. The inspirational Paul Gallen kicked his first goal in his last Origin game to take the final score to 18/14.

The Channel Nine Player of the Game went to James Maloney while the Player of the Series and Wally Lewis Medal winner was Queensland’s captain, Cameron Smith.

League Queensland’s Player of the Game for New South Wales was James Tedesco followed by Maloney, Gallen and Robbie Farrah while our best for the mighty maroons were Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Josh McGuire.

Thurston, who had a relatively quiet game, moved to his left and found his Cowboys team mate Gavin Cooper in support.

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queensland rugby league 2016

AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND Game (I) in Newcastle – Australia 16 d New Zealand 0 Game (II) in Perth – Australia 26 d New Zealand 6

CENTRAL HIGHLANDS Emerald Tigers 22 d Middlemount Panthers 14 Womens Emerald Tigers 18 d Clermont Bears 12

AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND (WOMEN) New Zealand 26 d Australia 16

CENTRAL WEST Ilfracombe Scorpions 30 d Winton Devils 12

FOUR NATIONS TOURNAMENT Australia 54 d Scotland 12 Australia 14 d New Zealand 8 Australia 36 d England 18

GLADSTONE AND DISTRICT Calliope Roosters 27 d Emu Park 22

PRIME MINISTERS XIII Prime Ministers XIII 58 d PNG 0 ORIGIN SERIES WON BY QUEENSLAND 2/1 Game (I) in Sydney QLD 6 d NSW 4 Game (II) in Brisbane QLD 26 d NSW 16 Game (III) in Sydney NSW 18 d QLD 14 ORIGIN (WOMEN) NSW 8 d QLD 4 RESIDENTS NSW 30 d QLD 16 INTRUST SUPER CUP Burleigh Bears 26 d Redcliffe Dolphins 16 FOGS CHALLENGE Wynnum Manly 34 d Easts Tigers 12 INTERSTATE CHALLENGE Queensland Rangers 11 d NSW Ron Massey Cup Team 4 DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Men – Central Division Women – South East Queensland 47TH BATTALION TROPHY (ROMA) Men – Sunshine Coast 26 d South West Queensland 8 Women – Sunshine Coast 6 d Central Highlands 4 BORDER LEAGUE Inglewood Roosters 44 d Tenterfield Tigers 10 Tenterfield Tigerettes 32 d Wallangarra Ramettes 10 BRISBANE RUGBY LEAGUE Redcliffe Dolphins 31 d Ipswich Jets 30 BRISBANE 2ND DIVISION Premier Grade – Albany Creek Gaters 42 d Brighton Roosters 40 Northside 1 – Moreton Bay Pride 8 d Dayboro Cowboys 0 Northside 2 – Norths St Josephs 22 d Samford 14 Northside 3 – Moreton Bay Pride 34 d Fortitude Valley 22 Southside 1 – Bulimba Valleys 26 d West Inala 19 Southside 2 – Easts Mt Gravatt 28 d Brothers St Brendans 18 Southside 3 – Edens Landing 28 d Wynnum Manly Juniors 24 BUNDABERG AND DISTRICT A Grade – Hervey Bay Seagulls 20 d Waves Tigers 12 Women – Past Brothers Bundaberg 46 d Isis Devils 0 Reserve – Brothers Maryborough 20 d Brothers Bundaberg 12 Under 18 – Brothers Bundaberg 34 d Hervey Bay Seagulls 10 BURNETT REGION Mundubbera Tigers 40 d Eidsvold Eagles 14 Cherbourg Hornets 68 d Nanango Stags 20 Cherbourg Hornets 66 d Mundubbera Tigers 28 CAIRNS & DISTRICT A Grade – Ivanhoes 19 d Cairns Brothers 12 Reserve – Tully 24 d Ivanhoes 6 Under 18 – Cairns Brothers 32 d Innisfail Leprechauns 16 CAPE CLUSTER Lockhart River Scorpions 24 d Weipa Raiders 10 8

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GOLD COAST/TWEED COMPETITION A Grade – Tugun Seahawks 27 d Burleigh Bears 14 Reserve – Burleigh Bears 13 d Beaudesert 12 Under 19 – Bilambil 28 d Southport 26 IPSWICH AND DISTRICT A Grade – Goodna Eagles 30 d Ipswich Brothers 18 Reserve – Ipswich Brothers 20 d Eastern Cobras 18 MACKAY AND DISTRICT A Grade – Magpies 28 d Whitsunday Brahmans 14 Reserve – Sarina 22 d Souths 18 U 18 – Souths 36 d Sarina 22 MOUNT ISA AND DISTRICT Cloncurry Eagles 28 d Normanton Stingers 14 NORTHERN DISTRICTS Avondale 26 d Gin Gin 6 NORTHERN PENINSULA Injinoo Crocs 28 d Alau Eagles 20 ROCKHAMPTON AND DISTRICT A Grade – Norths 24 d Rockhampton Brothers 18 Reserve – Woorabinda 52 d Norths 30 Under 20 – Yeppoon 24 d Norths 20 ROMA AND DISTRICT A Grade – Roma Cities 34 d Chinchilla 10 Reserve – Roma Cities 12 d Wallumbilla Surat Red Bulls 10 Under 18 – Mitchell 22 d Roma Cities 18 SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND WOMEN’S COMPETITION A Grade – Burleigh Bears 28 d Southern Suburbs 10 B Grade – Toowoomba Fillies 34 d Sunnybank 18 C Grade – Mt Gravatt 24 d Logan City Hawks 10 SUNSHINE COAST/GYMPIE A Grade – Maroochydore/Coolum 18 d Kawana 16 Div Two Pool A – Kawana 22 d Beerwah 18 Div Two Pool B – Nambour 36 d Maroochydore Coolum 28 THURSDAY ISLAND Mulga Tigers 22 d Suburbs 20 TOWNSVILLE AND DISTRICT A Grade – Herbert River Crushers 32 d Central Tigers 20 Reserve – Townsville Brothers 24 d Herbert River Crushers 20 Under 20 – Townsville Brothers 50 d Centrals Tigers 10 TOOWOOMBA AND DISTRICT A Grade – Pittsworth Danes 18 d Warwick Cowboys 12 Reserve – Gatton 16 d Valleys 4 Under 18 – Valleys 20 d Warwick 12 WESTERN LEAGUE Charleville Comets 28 d Augathella Meatants 10 OTHER COMPETITIONS Under 20 – NSW 36 d QLD 22 Under 18 – NSW 26 d QLD 0 Students – NSW 26 d QLD 16 North Queensland United 64 d Queensland Outback 18 Mal Meninga Cup (U18) – Townsville Blackhawks 20 d Souths Logan 18 Cyril Connell Cup (U16) – Townsville Blackhawks 38 d Norths Devils 16

COOPER Cronk (Melbourne Storm) and Jason Taumalolo (North Queensland Cowboys) tied for rugby league’s prestigious Dally M Medal while Ash Taylor (Titans) picked up the Rookie of the Year. Cronk was awarded his second Dally M Medal, following his solo win in 2013 and had an outstanding season playing for Queensland and Australia and was as good as any player on the field in the Storm’s nail-biting 14/12 Grand Final loss to Cronulla.

Jason Taumalolo who League Queensland regard as the Best Forward in the World has won his first Dally M Medal after an outstanding season for the North Queensland Cowboys and New Zealand. Other Queensland players to be mentioned on the night were the remarkable Cameron Smith who won the Hooker of the Year and Representative Player of the Year and the Brisbane Broncos Matt Gillett who was named the Second-Rower of the Year.

Fullback – Darius Boyd (Broncos, Australia) Winger – Valentine Holmes (Cronulla, Australia)

Thirteen Queenslanders were named in the Australian team to play in the Four Nations Tournament in England.

Centre – Justin O’Neill (Cowboys, Australia)

They were Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk (Melbourne Storm), Josh Papalii (Canberra Raiders), Darius Boyd, Matt Gillett, Sam Thaiday (Brisbane Broncos), Jake Friend (Sydney Roosters), Greg Inglis (South Sydney), Valentine Holmes (Cronulla) and Michael Morgan, Justin O’Neill, Matt Scott and Johnathan Thurston (North Queensland Cowboys). Corey Parker was available for selection but the selectors decided to go for youth with the 2017 World Cup only a year away. Other Queenslanders or Queensland based player to participate in the Four Nations will be Gerard Beale, Adam Blair, Jordan Kahu and Jason Taumalolo (New Zealand) and Lachlan Coote, Luke Douglas, Kane Linnett, Billy McConnachie, Sheldon Powe-Hobbs (Scotland).

Winger – Corey Oates (Broncos, Queensland)

The 2016 season was a mixed bag for the Queensland teams and players spread around the NRL and commenced with the North Queensland Cowboys winning the World Club Challenge in England with a 38/4 defeat of Leeds Rhinos. The Auckland 9’s were played early in February with the Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans making the quarter-finals with the Titans progressing to the semi’s only too be knocked out by the Auckland Warriors who would eventually go down to Parramatta in the final.

The season proper could not have started worse for Queensland as Billy Slater was injured in round one in a season ending shoulder injury while Anthony Milford, Ben Hunt, Jarrod Wallace, Dylan Napa, Edrick Lee, Chris Grevsmuhl, Valentine Holmes and Cameron Munster were given a 12 month ban from Origin selection for a curfew break at an Emerging Origin Camp in Brisbane. Queensland too their credit took all this in their stride and recovered to win their 10th series in eleven years.

Centre – Greg Inglis (South Sydney, Australia)

Five-Eighth – Johnathan Thurston (Cowboys, Australia) Half-Back – Cooper Cronk (Melbourne, Australia) Lock – Jason Taumalolo (Cowboys, New Zealand) 2nd Row – Sam Thaiday (Broncos, Australia) 2nd Row – Matt Gillett (Broncos, Australia) Prop – Matt Scott (Cowboys, Australia) Hooker – Cameron Smith (Melbourne, Australia) Prop – Josh Papalii (Canberra, Australia) Interchange – Michael Morgan (Cowboys, Australia) Interchange – Jake Friend (Sydney City, Australia) Interchange – Josh McGuire (Broncos, Australia) Interchange – Ash Taylor (Titans)

Darius Boyd Photo: Brisbane Broncos

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QUEENSLANDERS IN THE NRL on his day while Justin O’Neill (2016 Kangaroo) and Will Chambers excelled at season end. Chambers was the best centre on the paddock in the Grand Final and could feel cheated he wasn’t on the plane to England. The Broncos Tom Opacic and James Roberts played well in patches and will be better players next season.

Queensland has the best five-eighth in the world in Johnathan Thurston but snapping at his heals are his Cowboys team mate in Michael Morgan and the brilliant Anthony Milford from the Brisbane Broncos. It will be interesting to see where Cameron Munster plays next season if Slater returns as we have depth in this position.

Our Queensland stars shone bright in 2016 and ‘League Queensland’ rated them as follows;

Our half-back talent is led by the Dally M Player of the Year in Cooper Cronk who was outstanding but Moses Mbye (Canterbury), Ash Taylor (Dally M Rookie of the Year) and Ben Hunt (Broncos) all went well during the season.

If Billy Slater had been available we could confidently say that the best four fullbacks in Australia were all Queenslanders in 2016 with Darius Boyd (Broncos), Cameron Munster (Storm) and Ben Barba (Cronulla) all shining at the back. Munster was a revelation for the Storm after Slater’s injury while Barba was the Dally M Fullback of the Year and Boyd selected in that position for Queensland and Australia. Munster and Barba played in the NRL Grand Final while Boyd was named the Bronco of the Year and one of the first picked for Australia all season.

Our Queensland wingers were Corey Oates and Dane Gagai who both shone while Valentine Holmes recovered from his February indiscretion to make his Australian debut in the Kangaroos’ defeat of New Zealand in Perth. Holmes was one of the better players in the NRL Grand Final and is sure to attract attention when 2017 World Cup discussions are held.

Gagai was probably unlucky he was playing for cellar-dweller Newcastle when the Kangaroo team was selected as he was just about the best winger on display during the Origin series.

Queensland had some great centres in 2016 with Greg Inglis showing in Perth that he is as good as anyone in the game The best lock forward in Australia in 2016 was the mighty Jason Taumalolo who tied with Cronk for the Dally M Player of the Year. Others to go well included the retiring Corey Parker who wore the number 13 jersey in all three Origin games and the Titans’ Chris McQueen.

Queensland has the Australian/Queensland/Broncos second-row of Matt Gillett (Dally M Second-Row of the Year) and the ageless Sam Thaiday but hot on their heels are the Cowboys Gavin Cooper who played Origin in 2016, the upand-coming Coen Hess and Jai Arrow. Sydney City’s Aiden Guerra had a hot and cold season while over the Tasman 10

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outstanding. A return to form by the club and the player could see Manly’s Nate Myles shine next season while big Herman Ese-Ese from the Broncos is probably the pick of the others.

If there is a position in a team where we have depth in Queensland it’s hooker with both Four Nations hookers in Cameron Smith and Jake Friend (Sydney City) eligible to play for the Sunshine State. If we had a horror run with injuries and neither were available we have Andrew McCullough (Brisbane Broncos), Jake Granville (Cowboys) and the up and coming Matt Parcell (Manly) all capable of playing at a higher level.

Jacob Lillyman never let Queensland down when selected. It will be interesting to see where the Queensland selectors go in 2017 but we are confident that ‘Slamin Sam’ will not let his Origin jersey go lightly.

2016 was a great year for Queensland with all three NRL teams making the semi-finals and while they never made the big game the two teams that did were stacked full of Queensland stars. We won the Origin Series and had 12 of a possible 17 players selected in the Anzac Test against New Zealand. Bring on 2017 and a World Cup year. It’s exciting.

The front row position is confusing with Matt Scott, Josh Papalii and Josh McGuire all playing for Australia in 2016 from Queensland while when Dylan Napa is on-song there is no better prop going around.

It will be interesting to see who replaces James Tamou at the Cowboys in 2017 as apart from Ben Hannant they appear light-on in this department. If Napa plays well in 2017 he could force his way into a Queensland or Australian team as his aggressive game against South Sydney in round six when he made 51 tackles and played for 80 minutes was simply

DIVE INTO SUMMER

SUMMERBRIGHTLAGER.COM.AU

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TURN THE LIGHT OUT

HAROLD’S HOME IN CRONULLA MANY years ago after spending a frustrating year coaching Cronulla, Jack Gibson who was the Coach of the Century made the comment that waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership was like waiting for former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt, who went missing in front of his beach-front home, to return. Holt is now the only piece of the puzzle missing as the Sharks won the 2016 NRL Premiership with a heart-stopping 14/12 defeat of the clinical Melbourne Storm.

Cronulla entered the New South Wales premiership alongside Penrith in 1967. I remember the year well as an ardent South Sydney supporter as we broke St George’s massive 11 premiership run to take the title. The Sharks did pick up some silverware that inaugural season with their half-back Terry Hughes winning the first ever Rothmans Medal (now Dally M) by one point from the legendary John Raper. Cronulla struggled for many seasons and it would be fair to say had more lows than highs over the next 49 seasons. Those of us who can remember the Manly v Cronulla Grand Finals of 1973 and 1978 would remember the heart ache of the players and supporters as inconsistent refereeing and injury cost them finals.

In 2014 the heartache continued with the drug scandal that rocked the club seeing their hard working coach Shane Flanagan and a host of players including Paul Gallen suspended. Many thought it was the end of the road for the Sharks. To their credit they came back with a vengeance and with a team of hardened veterans like Gallen, Michael Ennis, Luke Lewis and Chris Heighington plus the experienced James Maloney, Wade Graham, Ben Barba and Andrew Fifita they 12

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clawed their way back. Along the way they picked up some classy backs like Valentine Holmes, Gerard Beale, Jack Bird and Chad Townsend and the Sharks attacked in 2016.

They lost two of their first three games to the Cowboys and Sea Eagles and then they made their tremendous charge towards the finals. The Sharks had the book-makers winding them in as they won fifteen on the trot including quality victories over the Storm, Cowboys, Broncos, Titans, Panthers and Bulldogs.

Their 15 game run came to an end with a golden-point 18/18 draw against the Titans but worse was to come as they lost three on the trot against the Raiders, Dragons and Rabbitohs.

Even the faithful were worried when the Storm flogged them 26/6 in the last competition round to take the minorpremiership and send Cronulla into third position behind Canberra.

Before a game had been played in the final series the Sharks were on the fifth line of betting behind Melbourne, Cowboys, Raiders, and Broncos but the book makers had not consulted Shane Flanagan and his crew. Coming into the finals in third position made them play the high-flying Raiders at ‘Fortress Canberra’. The Raiders had beaten the Sharks 30/14 in round 22 and Melbourne 22/8 in round 23 but a new Sharks stood tall as they took the game without their inspirational captain 16/14. This loss sent the Raiders to Melbourne for a show-down with the Storm while the 2015 premiers, the North Queensland Cowboys played Cronulla for a spot in the Grand Final.

the 14th minute Maloney sent Clive Churchill Medal winner Luke Lewis into space and the veteran from Penrith’s 2003 premiership was tackled centimetres from the line. A scrum was set ten metres from the Storm’s line and Gallen took the ball from the scrum base, passed inside to Ben Barba who ran eight metres to score. Once again Maloney converted and at 8/0 the Storm looked vulnerable.

The balance of the opening half was a war of attrition with the magnificent Storm defence keeping a relentless Cronulla attack at bay.

The Battle of Waterloo for the Cowboys had been the previous week when they played for 90 minutes to defeat the Brisbane Broncos in Townsville. It’s easy to say this affected the team from North Queensland but the Sharks were Melbournelike on their way to a 32/20 victory and a date with destiny.

The score actually flattered the Cowboys who trailed 14/0 at half time and Cronulla scored three tries in succession in the second half before the Cowboys scored a couple of late ones.

The key veterans Ennis and Luke Lewis played the entire 80 minutes while their NSW Origin forward Wade Graham had a three minute break. After the game Johnathan Thurston commented on the toughness of the Sharks and their great five-eighth, James Maloney who had scored two tries and kicked six goals in a Thurston-like performance.

The machine called the Storm won 14/12 in Melbourne against the Raiders after leading 8/6 at half time. The Raiders who had averaged 29 points a game during the season and had scored 22 points to the Storms eight in round 23 were stifled by the great Melbourne defence and the old firm of Cronk and Smith did the rest.

Roll on the Grand Final and a standard comment from most astute judges was that Melbourne would win but they also didn’t mind if the Sharks ended up with the trophy. “League Queensland” nominated a Cronulla v Storm Grand Final at the end of the last round but deep down thought that the Storm would win the big one. We also thought that the Cowboys were a better barometer than the Raiders going into the big game and though that the Sharks would win if they attached early. Attack they did and defend they also did, which would win them the game.

The game commenced as most Grand Finals, Origin games and Tests start with some fireworks and ‘Michael the Pest’ Ennis was penalised for a high shot on Jordan McLean in the 2nd minute. In the 4th minute Melbourne were caught in goal and seconds later their rugby union bound winger Marika Koroibete was put on report for a high shot on Chad Townsend. Maloney kicked the goal that would be the difference at the end of 80 minutes. The Storm were shell-shocked for the next ten minutes as wave after wave of black and blue jerseys attacked. In

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TURN THE LIGHT OUT Several times the Melbourne team had to defend repeat sets with an outstanding Cameron Smith making 37 first half tackles. Both teams walked off the field with nothing left in the tank although Melbourne had to make 222 tackles to the Sharks 158 with possession going to the Cronulla team 59% - 41%.

Almost 84,000 people watched as two great rugby league teams walked back onto the field with one leading New South Wales commentator predicting the Sharks would score another 30 points against a Melbourne team that looked spent.

The same astute judge has been predicting a New South Wales revival for more than ten seasons.

In the 48th minute the tired Storm forwards attacked and Jesse Bromwich who many regard as the best prop in the world bulldozed his way over to give his skipper an easy conversion.

see Chambers score and the Cameron Smith conversion saw the Storm hit the front 12/8.

Melbourne Storm defence which had only leaked an average of 12.5 points a game in 2016 expected to hold out a tiring Cronulla. The Sharks were awarded penalties in the 66th and 68th and big Andrew Fifita carried five players over to score beside the posts. The conversion by Maloney saw the Sharks hit the front 14/12 and although Melbourne were attacking and missed a golden opportunity when Cronk was unmarked and never given the ball the siren sounded with Cronulla in front.

There were plenty of heroes and nobody begrudged the decision to give Luke Lewis the Clive Churchill Medal as Player of the Final but anybody who makes 74 tackles in 80 minutes of high pressure rugby league like Cameron Smith deserves special mention.

All the Queenslanders went well with Ben Barba playing his best game of the season, Valentine Holmes playing himself into a Kangaroo jersey and Gerard Beale very safe all game.

For the Storm Cooper Cronk played well, Will Chambers should have been selected to tour England and Tim Glasby, Ben Hampton and Cameron Munster.

The board read 8/6 and any 30 point prediction looked in danger. The Sharks attacked and the Storm defended, several times the Melbourne team were caught behind their own try line but in the 62nd minute Maloney kicked a ball out and gave the Storm possession. Within seconds the Queensland connection of Smith, Cronk and Will Chambers combined to

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THE INTRUST SUPER CUP IN REVIEW The Burleigh Bears had their moment in the sun a week earlier when they defeated the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Intrust Super Cup Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium after a hard 26/16 victory over minor-premiers, the Redcliffe Dolphins.

ONE game too long was all that could have been said about the Intrust Super Championship played at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on the 2nd October. The Burleigh Bears were all at sea against a better prepared Illawarra Cutters who are basically the St George Illawarra Dragons reserve grade team. The Bears never looked in the game at any stage and the board read 48/0 in the 59th minute before Burleigh put points on the board. Significantly two of the Cutters best had won titles in the last three seasons playing for Queensland teams with their captain Tyrone McCarthy and classy fiveeighth Shaun Nona both part of the Northern Pride winning team in 2014. Nona, who had apparently signed with the Blackhawks for 2017, kicked nine from nine in a masterful display although their best on field was their 187cm halfback Drew Hutchinson who dominated the game as the Cutters won 54/12 after leading 30/0 at half time.

The Bears led 6/0 early when Curtis Rowe scored in the 12th minute and the radar-like Jamal Fogarty kicked the first of his five goals for the afternoon. The Dolphins came back with a try to Jonus Pearson to narrow the gap to 6/4. The Bears big forward pack gave the Burleigh half combination of Cullen and Fogarty plenty of room to move and in the 22nd minute Curtis Rowe scored his second try to increase their lead to 12/4. The middle of the first half belonged to the Bears who increased their lead to 14/4 with another Fogarty goal before the Dolphins came back.

The last 20 minutes of the first half was all Redcliffe as they continually attacked but resolute defence from Burleigh with Lachlan Burr and Luke Page leading the way stopped their momentum.

Photo: SMP Images

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In the 33rd minute Tyson Cleal scored near the posts after a Bears error to take his team to 14/10 and it was game on at Suncorp Stadium.

Both teams walked off the field thinking they could win with possession in the first half going to the Burleigh team 54% to 46%.

The second half was a war of attrition with both sets of forwards trying to assert their dominance but in the 48th minute the ever alert Curtis Rowe made a break to put Sami Sauiluma over in the corner.

The Parramatta bound Jamal Fogarty kicked the conversion from the side line to take the Bears into a 20/10 lead.

In a similar pattern to the first half the Dolphins came back in the middle 20 minutes and after two Burleigh errors the Dolphins Queensland Residents Darren Nicholls scored a try which he converted to once again narrow the gap to four points at 20/16. Burleigh appeared to struggle at this stage with Rowe knocking on near his line before saving the day seconds later picking up a ball on his goal line. The free beer started flowing at the Burleigh Leagues Club in the 69th minute when Waka, Rowe and Fogarty combined to put the Duncan Hall Medallist Cameron Cullen into space and his converted try took the score to 26/16. Redcliffe were not finished and attacked for the last ten minutes of the

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game but several unforced errors stifled their momentum.

They were attacking when the final whistle blew. The best for Burleigh were Cullen, Lachlan Burr, Luke Page, Jamal Fogarty and Curtis Rowe while Chris Gesch, Sam Anderson and Zach Strasser played well for the Dolphins.

Burleigh were the first team into the Intrust Super Cup Grand Final after their stunning 40/12 defeat of Redcliffe at Dolphin Oval on the 11th September. The Bears surprised most punters as the Dolphins had dominated the competition for the last fifteen games of the regular season while the Bears had gone down five times in the same period including a 32/14 loss to the Dolphins in round 12. They had led for most of the season but a narrow 25/24 loss to the Northern Pride in round 21 cost them the minor-premiership. They finished the season with a strong 30/18 win over Souths Logan and 24/12 defeat of Easts at Suzuki Stadium to give themselves momentum going into the finals. Their Jamal Fogarty led the points scoring into the final round of the competition and even a try and five goals could not prevent Darren Nicholls overhauling him. The Parramatta bound Fogarty was crucial to Burleigh’s chances in the Grand Final. Their attack is up there with the best but defence wins Grand Finals and they had to improve on 22 points a game to win the big one. The Gold Coast Titans bound Paterika Vaivai joined the classy Kurtis Rowe as their Players of the Year.

The Redcliffe Dolphins turned their season around after round 10 of the Intrust Super Cup but ran into a red-hot Burleigh Bears in the major semi-final.

They had five wins, four losses and a bye in the opening ten rounds but from round eleven they dominated the competition with thirteen wins and a loss to really stamp their authority on the competition. Their only defeat in the latter part of the season was a narrow 11/10 to long-time rivals, the Wynnum Seagulls at Dolphin Oval. Proof of their authority was their massive point’s differential of 383 with 728 points in attack at an average of almost 32 points per game and a miserly 345 points conceded in defence at 15 per game. Both are the best in the competition and along with Darren Nicholls as the competitions leading point scorer on 258 the club was looking good going into the finals. Since their round 17 loss to Wynnum the Dolphins had scored an average of 41 points a game while conceding 12. Despite the Grand Final loss to Burleigh things are looking good on the peninsula in 2017 with their BRL team the current premiers and their FOGS Challenge team up there with the best. The Best and Fairest for 2016 and winner of the Peter Leis Medal was Sam Anderson.

The feats of the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the semi-finals were the talking point of the Intrust Super Cup. The Falcons came into the semi-finals in fifth spot on the premiership ladder and most experts never expected them to defeat the unbeatable PNG Hunters at home in the first elimination final. Who would have expected the Falcons to recover from their last round 34/4 defeat by PNG in Port Moresby but recover they did in a magnificent fashion. The Falcons who are a feeder club for the Melbourne Storm have some great players but when your attack is only marginally better than your defence it makes playing teams like the Hunters a nightmare. The Falcons CEO, former Queensland Origin player Chris Flannery, was full of praise for his team and the

coaching of Craig Ingebrigtsen following the win, especially after they trailed 6/4 at half time against a team that had not been beaten on home soil in 2016. But more was to come against another competition heavy-weight the Townsville Blackhawks and once again the Falcons soared.

Parker-Walshe, Corey Jensen, Rhyse Martin and Anthony Mitchell were still playing from that squad.

They had lost the big game experience of Glen Hall and Neville Costigan but still had a capable side with loads of NYC talent. Their Johnathan Reuben was the leading try scorer in the competition on 18 and along with Moses Pangai and Andrew Niemoeller should prove a handful for any defence. The Blackhawks had to win four games in succession to take the title which proved a bridge too far for the boys from Townsville. 2017 is looming and the departure of Rhyse Martin (Canterbury Bulldogs), Jahrome Hughes (Storm) and Moses Pangai (Broncos) has been tempered with the quality signings of Shaun Nona and the 29-year-old 160-game veteran Lee Jewitt from the English Super League.

Hughes won their Player of the Year Award.

The PNG Hunters commenced the season with seven wins from their first nine games and then became very inconsistent only stringing consecutive wins twice in the last sixteen rounds.

They never lost a game at home (12) but only won three from eleven on the road.

They were surprisingly beaten 18/12 by the Falcons in Round One of the semi-finals in PNG. The Hunters struggle to score points with four teams below them on the ladder having better attacking figures. 2017 is a World Cup Year with PNG already in the mix so every Intrust Super Cup game will be a trial for most players. The Hunters coach Michael Marum is also the national coach so the Hunters should be raring to go in 2017. PNG’s classy half-back Ase Boas won the club’s Player of the Year Award while their only player loss of significance is Justin Olam who has signed with the Melbourne Storm.

Easts Tigers were the last team into the semi-finals and their win over the Cutters was not as convincing as the score indicated. The Cutters held them to 18/16 at half time but the Tigers dominated the second half. The Melbourne Storm aligned team looked like grand final contenders mid-season when they only lost two from eleven games but their season deteriorated from round 18 onwards when, after a 24/24 draw with the Capras, they only won one from seven. They are another Melbourne Storm feeder club and were affected by injuries at key times during the season. Their first round exit to the Blackhawks 46/4 did not inspire enthusiasm

A three-try haul to Ryan Morgan and a try to Jye Ballinger saw the Falcons run out 18/10 winners to the team I considered the team to beat all season. The Falcons dream run came to a halt on Dolphin Oval in the Qualifying Final but they could consider the season a success. Their Melbourne Storm bound half-back Ryley Jacks won the prestigious James Ackerman Medal as Player of the Year and I’m confident you will hear more of this player.

The Townville Blackhawks were hot favourites in the 2015 Grand Final and would not be happy bowing out of the semifinal race in straight sets to Burleigh and then the Falcons in 2016. I had great expectations for the Blackhawks who I thought would be a better team for their 2015 experience although only Jahrome Hughes, Moses Pangai, Michael LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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Origin centre Josh Hannay as coach has been tempered with the signing of Wynnum Manly’s Jon Buchanan which will have a positive effect if he can entice some of the quality Wynnum FOGS team to leave the Bay. Souths Logan are a classic example of the unfairness of the Salary Cap in the Intrust Super Cup as they battle with a shoe-string budget against clubs with millions. Joe Boyce won the Pat Phelan Memorial Club Player of the Year for the Magpies and the Broncos signing is sure to be needed in 2017.

heading into 2017 but the signing of former Tigers skipper Steven Thorpe will add starch to their forwards. Consistency is the key to the Tigers next season which means running the same team onto the paddock week after week. Jake Foster won the Player of the Year Award and the depth in this club will see them play in the finals in 2017.

Souths Logan needed to beat Burleigh to make the semi-finals but their form during 2016 was erratic at best.

They won four games from five around the end of June to show some spark but their defence was below Intrust Cup standard conceding 26 points a game. The loss of former

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Northern Pride finished the season on a high winning four of their last five games including victories over Burleigh and PNG but inconsistency in mid-season cost them dearly and on two occasions they lost three games in succession.

Their Queensland Residents winger, Linc Port has signed with the Melbourne Storm but the talent pool in Far North Queensland is huge and the Pride will be back in 2017 under the guidance of new coach and former Queensland Origin player, Ty Williams. Their Queensland Residents forward David Murphy won the Player of the Year Award and is sure to be around when this side is selected in 2017.

The Ipswich Jets gave too much start away to defend their 2015 title, losing nine of their first 13 games but their back half of the season was strong only losing three from twelve. Included in their scalps were the Blackhawks and Burleigh but success did not come cheap in 2015 with many of their better players going onto the NRL. Like the Pride they will be back in 2017. In a massive coup for the club, 2016 Queensland Residents and Queensland Rangers representatives Nemani Valekapa and Chris Ash have re-signed with the club until the end of the 2018 season.

Valekapa had another stellar year for the Ipswich Jets in season 2016 which saw him rewarded with selection in the Queensland Residents team which took on NSW Residents in the NRLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representative round earlier in the year. The Fijian flyer will look to take his representative honours even higher in 2017 with a push for selection in the Fijian squad for the World Cup to be played at the end of next season.

Valekapa could be playing against their PNG winger and 2016 Allan Langer Medal winner in Richie Pandia during the World Cup. The Wynnum Manly Seagulls at their best were good as shown by their defeat of Redcliffe 11/10 at Dolphin Oval but at their worst they were bad and losing six straight to start the season did not assist. They played well in patches but will have to improve in 2017 to win back the faithful.

Their 42/18 defeat of eventual semi-finalists Easts Tigers in round 23 at Kougari Oval was clinical but they lost the next two games to the Falcons and Ipswich. Their big signing for the 2017 season is former North Queensland Cowboys playmaker Travis Burns who will join new coach Adam Brideson at the club. Burns, a halfback or five-eighth with 127 games of NRL experience after playing stints with

the Cowboys, Penrith and Manly will join the Seagulls from the English Super League competition and could be a handy teacher for the up and coming Aaron Booth. I predict big things from Wynnum in 2017.

Norths Devils won two games in succession on three occasions but were belted for most of the year. Losing Jai Arrow to the Broncos and Brett Greinke to South Sydney never helped the Devils’ chances at all. Both are quality players and a huge loss to a struggling club. On the positive side the club performed well in the Mal Meninga Cup and FOGs Challenge so has plenty of up-and-coming players.

Norths on their day are capable of beating the best as seen by their 24/6 defeat of PNG in round 16 but too often they faded late in the game. Their best for the season was their tough forward Billy Brittain.

Tweed have signed several talented juniors for 2017 and have a great talent pool to draw from so with Clark at the helm they are sure to improve.

Last on the Intrust Super Cup ladder are the Mackay Cutters who only won four of a possible 23 games for the year. The Cutters are an example of a team that cannot connect to the clubs beneath them as the progress from Mackay Rugby League level to Intrust Cup is simply not there. It’s sad to see a great player like Grant Rovelli who had retired at the end of the 2015 season coming out of

The CQ Capras offered so much at the start of the season but delivered little as their minus 316 points differential indicated. Scoring less than 20 points a game and allowing more than 32 points in is not positive rugby league. Kim Williams has a huge task in front of him to bring this club back and is a clear sign along with the Mackay Cutters of the down-turn in the mining industry. The Capras were reasonable from rounds one to fourteen, only losing six games but from rounds 15 through to 25 they never registered a win with their best result being a 24/24 draw against Easts. Somewhere along the way the Capras lost the art of defence and at 33 points a game conceded were the worst of the Intrust Super Cup teams. The local competition is strong and the region has good juniors but having no NRL team to draw from is a hurdle for the Capras. Their talented fullback Reece Baker won the Player of the Year Award and will be around in 2017.

The Tweed Heads Seagulls won three games in succession at one stage of the season but losing ten of their last twelve is not the best way to retain supporters and sponsors.

The Tweed had easily the worst attacking team in the competition, only averaging 17 points a game which was 50 points worse than the Capras. Their hard working forward Will Bugden won the 2016 Player of the Year Award but the announcement of new CEO in former Gold Coast Titans GM Scott Clark could be the tonic the once proud club needs. The

retirement to plug gaps in a team in a competition that has bred many Internationals like Wendell Sailor, Dale Shearer and Martin Bella. Steve Shepherd is the 2017 coach and he brings a lot of experience to the club having coached at Queensland Under 18 level. Amazingly for a team who came last from 14 the Cutters had the Courier Mail Player of the Year in their Cowboy’s signed hooker Josh Chudleigh.

QUEENSLAND RUGBY LEAGUE AWARDS As mentioned Josh Chudleigh capped off an outstanding season picking up a new two-year contract with the North Queensland Cowboys and winning the prestigious Courier Mail Award as the Best and Fairest Player in the Intrust Super Cup but there were other notable success stories in Queensland Rugby League. Chudleigh tallied 27 points to finish at the top of the standings from 2015 winner Luke Page (25), Sam Anderson (24), Darren Nicholls (23) and Herman Ese’ese (22).

Former Norths Devils lock Jai Arrow who played for Queensland Residents in 2016 was named the Representative Player of the Year and would go onto play 12 games for the Brisbane Broncos. Arrow will look to cement his spot in the Broncos run-on side in 2017 with the departure of Corey Parker. Redcliffe flyer Jonus Pearson took out the Carbine Club Rookie of the Year award, while PNG Hunters star Justin Olam was the recipient of the XXXX People’s Choice Award.

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RESIDENTS STRUGGLE AGAINST BLUES

Herman Ese’Ese Photo: SMP Images

Once again the home team attacked and Jack Svenden scored to narrow the gap to 14/10.

THE Queensland vs New South Wales Residents clash this year was won by the Blues 30/16 to record their first victory since 2013. The southern victory was never in doubt and the six tries to three was a good indication of the superiority of the visitors.

Big New South Wales winger Ken Maumalo was basically unstoppable and his three-try effort bought back memories of Israel Falou in full-flight. Although the NSW half-back Josh Drinkwater was the official Man of the Match there was no better player on the field than Queensland’s lock-forward Jai Arrow who made 50 tackles and ran the ball 15 times in his 73 minutes on the field.

The Maroons were in trouble early when they put pressure on themselves with unforced errors and by the 11th minute big Ken Maumalo had stamped his authority on the game with two great winger’s tries and an 8/0 lead. Queensland then composed themselves and the Blackhawks fullback Jahrome Hughes scored near the post to give half-back Darren Nicholls an easy conversion. The Blues were the next to score with Asipeli Fine going in and former Queensland Residents fiveeighth Shaun Nona, now wearing a blue jumper, converted the try from the sideline to take his team to 14/6.

The opening minutes of the second session were all New South Wales as their fullback Justin Hunt combined with Drinkwater to score. The ever-reliable Nona added the extras so at 20/10 the game was slipping away from Queensland. Queensland simply made too many errors and the Blues were quick to capitalise, scoring another two tries through Maumalo (his 3rd) and Dylan Kelly. Nona missed the first conversion but nailed the second from the sideline to take the Blues into unstoppable territory at 30/10 with 15 minutes on the clock. Queensland scored the last try of the game when Cameron Cullen combined to send Darren Nicholls in for his second try but at 30/16 it had been an impressive New South Wales victory. “League Queensland’s” best on ground was Jai Arrow for Queensland followed by Herman Ese’ese, Jack Svendsen, Anthony Mitchell and Sam Anderson while Drinkwater, Abraham Papalili, Ken Maumalo and Elijah Taylor went well for the winners.

New South Wales Residents 30 (Ken Maumalo 3, Asipeli Fine, Josh Drinkwater, Dylan Kelly tries; Shaun Nona 3 goals) def Queensland Residents 16 (Jahrome Hughes, Jack Svendsen, Darren Nicholls tries; Darren Nicholls 2 goals) at Langlands Park. Man of Match: Josh Drinkwater (New South Wales).

– TONY PRICE

QUEENSLAND

One bright moment – Linc Port scoring for Queensland Photo: SMP Images

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Jahrome Hughes Sami Sauiluma Nemani Valekapa Aaron Whitchurch Linc Port Cameron Cullen (C) Darren Nicholls Sam Anderson Anthony Mitchell

Herman Ese’Ese Jack Svendsen Brett Greinke Jai Arrow Mitch Cronin Corey Jensen David Murphy Francis Taulau Ryley Jacks

Photo: SMP Images

DEFENCE was the key at Pizzey Park on the Gold Coast when the Queensland Rangers defeated New South Wales 11/4 after leading 4/0 at half time. The rugged defence by both teams had the crowd cheering and it took a resolute effort from the Queenslanders to restrict the NSW Ron Massey Cup team to one try late in the second half. The maroon team could have added to their score in the opening session but Toowoomba’s Corey Blades was forced into touch over the line. Minutes later West Brisbane Panthers’ Kennedy Pettybourne scored an unconverted try to give his team a narrow lead at the interval.

The second session was a carbon-copy of the first with rugged defence the order of the day but in the 52nd minute the Ipswich Jets’ winger Ono So’oialo scored a converted try to extend the Maroon lead to 10/0. The Blues hit back in the 62nd minute with a try to Joel Latham but the non-conversion left the southerners trailing by six which was extended to seven with a Chris Ash field-goal late in the game. The best for Queensland were Mitch Wilson (Man of Match), Chris Ash, Steve Franciscus, Brendan Grulke and Ivan Petelo.

XXXX Queensland Rangers 11 (Kennedy Pettybourne, Ono So’oialo tries; Ono So’oialo goal, Chris Ash field goal) def NSW Ron Massey Cup team 4 (Joel Latham try).

XXXX QUEENSLAND RANGERS 1. Maeli Seve (Norths Devils) 2. Ono So'oialo (Ipswich Jets) 3. Steven Franciscus (Gatton Hawks) 4. Kennedy Pettybourne (West Panthers) 5. Corey Blades (Toowoomba Souths) 6. Mitchell Wilson (Redcliffe Dolphins) 7. Christopher Ash (Ipswich Jets) 8. Trent Richardson (Warwick Cowboys) 9. Brendan Grulke (Roma Cities) 10. Troy Kapea (Townsville Blackhawks) 11. Lachlan Roe (Ipswich Jets) 12. Tyson White (CQ Capras) 13. Ivan Petelo (Proserpine Brahmans) 14. Christopher Aiton (Valleys) 15. Josh Hoffman (Wynnum Manly Seagulls) 16. Jason Wardrop (Maroochydore/Coolum) 17. Rueben Baillie (Across the Waves) 18. Troy Leo (Southport Tigers) Coach: Craig Grauf

QUEENSLAND RANGERS 2016 INTERSTATE CHAMPIONS BACK (L-R): Mark Ross, Chris Waters, Mark Winton, Tyson White, Jason Wardrop, Trent Richardson, Lachlan Roe, Chris Aiton, Troy Kapea, Craig Grauf, Ian Alberts MIDDLE: Ono So’oialo, Troy Leo, Kennedy Pettyborne, Steven Franciscus, Brenden Grulke, Mitch Wilson, Corey Blades, Josh Hoffman, Matthew Anderton FRONT: Rueben Baillie, Maeli Seve, Chris Ash, Ivan Petelo

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BOOTH DOMINATES FOGS CHALLENGE THERE is no doubt that Wynnum Seagulls’ Aaron Booth will be a standout in the QRL’s new Under 20 competition in 2017 after a magnificent season in the FOGS Challenge in 2016. The stylish half-back scored 25 tries while scoring 158 points for the season to top the try scoring and actually was the 4th highest point’s scorer despite Brayden Josephs from Wynnum being their regular goal kicker.

The curtain came down on the regular season in the FOGS Challenge with the bayside teams of Wynnum Manly and the Redcliffe Dolphins the teams to beat going into the finals.

The Seagulls had the wood on their Peninsula opponents defeating them 30/26, 20/8, 36/18 and 40/12 in their four clashes leading into the finals. The points scored by both teams is almost a carbon copy with the Seagulls scoring 34.09 points a game and the Dolphins scoring 33.59 points per outing.

Defensively they were almost identical as well with 17.86 and 17.72 points respectively.

Wynnum finished the season on 42 points from 19 wins and three defeats in front of Redcliffe on 40 points including 18 wins and then Easts (33), Norths (29), Burleigh (28), Sunshine Coast (24), Souths Logan (24), Ipswich (18), Toowoomba (14) and the Tweed Heads Seagulls (8). The top points scorers in the FOGS Challenge were Jack Miers (Norths Devils) on 180, Brayden Josephs (Wynnum) 176, Reece Braun (Dolphins) 170 points from the remarkable Aaron Booth (Wynnum) on 158 and Matthew Richards (Easts Tigers) on 146. Booth topped the try

scoring with 25 from Kurtis Shayler (Toowoomba) who scored 20 tries in a team that struggled all season. Justin Fai (Souths Logan), Brody Riseborough (Falcons), Luke Modini (Wynnum) and Trai Fuller (Dolphins) all went over the try line 15 times.

Redcliffe were beaten 21/20 by Easts Tigers in the Qualifying Final which was a huge shock for the young Dolphins. The early stages of the Grand Final was all Wynnum and they had a comfortable 24/0 lead at the interval courtesy of tries to William Toloi, Steven Tatipata, Booth, Mitipere Tuatai and Dale Madden. It all looked too easy for the Seagulls but the Tigers through Connor Jones and Hayden Bishop scored the first two tries of the 2nd half to narrow the gap to 24/12 and it looked like a repeat of 2015 when Burleigh came from behind to knock off the Seagulls.

However their Man of the Match, Aaron Booth and Dale Madden scored tries to take the game out of the reach of the gallant Tigers who had played their Grand Final the week before against Redcliffe. The Seagulls champion half back Aaron Booth fittingly received man of the match honours, scoring two tries and setting up two more for his wingers with some intelligent kicking but Dale Madden was a close second in the best on field stakes.

WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 34 (Aaron Booth 2, Dale Madden 2, William Toloi, Steven Tatipata, Mitipere Tuatai tries; Aaron Booth 3 goals) def EASTS TIGERS 12 (Connor Jones, Hayden Bishop tries; Matthew Richards 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium.

The QRL’s FOGS Colts Challenge Player of the Year was Lane Ferling (Norths Devils)

WYNNUM MANLY RLFC FOGS CHALLENGE TEAM – 2016 PREMIERS LEFT TO RIGHT: Mitipere Tuatai, Lucky Taavale, Steven Tatipata, Dale Madden, Brent Woolf, William Toloi, Nick Samuels, Jake McGregor, Tuoana Halkyard, Luke Modini, Lachlan Barr, Jordan Clamp, Cameron Torpy, Joseph Besgrove, Bailey Crompton, Aaron Booth, Cody McIntosh

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DOLPHINS WIN BRL TITLE THE Brisbane Rugby League competition concluded their normal season with Wynnum Manly/Redland City taking out the minor premiership with 49 points from Redcliffe (47), Ipswich (44), West Brisbane (42), Albany Creek Gaters (36), Easts Tigers (35), Valleys (30), Normanby (28), Carina (24) and Logan Brothers (22).

The Jets finished the season on a high, accounting for Valleys 36/22 in the last premiership round and then knocking Easts Tigers out of the finals with a determined 32/14 win in the elimination final.

The West Brisbane Panthers defeated Albany Creek 36/22 in the first week of the finals but went down 30/24 to a fired up Jets in the Elimination Final. Redcliffe moved into the Grand Final with a massive 51/16 defeat of Wynnum Manly/Redlands City, scoring nine tries in the process. The fast improving Jets then defeated the Seagulls16/12 on the 10th September in the Preliminary Final and met Redcliffe in the decider at Bishop Park the following weekend.

The Grand Final was everything it was supposed to be and when the score was locked at 30/30 after 80 minutes the small crowd knew they had seen a quality game. Redcliffe looked strong in the early encounters but it was the Ipswich fullback Isi Hafoka who put first points on the board when he ran into a gap to give the Jets a 6/0 lead.

The boys from the Peninsula recovered with a vengeance and with minutes to go in the first half led 22/6 with Paul Byrnes, Agassi Stowers and Nick Ritter scoring. The 2015 premiers appeared to be on the ropes but a shark try to their five-eighth Maiaere Beattie narrowed the half time lead to a respectable 10 points at 22/12.

The second session was sterling stuff with neither team gaining the upper-hand although the Jets dominated the closing stages after trailing 30/18 at one point. The board read 30/30 at full time and there was no change in the first five minutes of extra

time but something had to break and with the clock ticking towards a draw John Brady, the Redcliffe five-eighth, kicked a field goal to break the dead-lock and give the Dolphins the 2016 premiership.

Tyson Gamble who scored a secondhalf try was the Man of the Match but there were any number of worthy candidates.

REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 31 (Glen Ellis, Paul Byrnes, Tyson Gamble, Hayden Hansen, Agassi Stowers, Nick Ritter tries; Kyle van Klaveren 3 goals; John Brady field goal) def IPSWICH JETS 30 (Isi Hafoka, Francis Leger, Mikaere Beattie, Peter Whittaker, Jackson Tynan tries; Mikaere Beattie 5 goals).

REDCLIFFE Evander Cummins Glen Ellis Jaz Nahu-Main Kyle Van Klaveren Paul Byrnes John Brady Tyson Gamble Taylor Brown Hayden Hansen

Johnnie Fox Agassi Stowers Nick Ritter Mitch Wilson Ashley Harawira Jayden Best Paea Talakai Tai Vaavale

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BRISBANE 2ND DIVISION SEASON IN REVIEW 2016 brought Brisbane Second Division Rugby League Incorporated to the end of its 40th continuous year of rugby league in the South East. In 1977 Sub Districts was the competition where it all began with 14 clubs, 2 grades and fifteen teams.

Throughout the years the number of clubs, teams and grading changed with a peak in 2014 with 95 teams from 52 clubs. (That season also included two Women’s Grades).

As tallies continue to grow on our Premiership Honour Roll, Carina as one of our founding clubs leads with 18 grand final wins in the Southside competition and on the Northside, Banyo now holds 11 titles after their 2015 Grand Final win. Bulimba Valleys are the most successful club in recent years with five consecutive Grand Final wins from 2012 to 2016. Sunnybank (15), St Brendans (13) and Logan Brothers (12) have also had great success in the Southside competitions.

This year our numbers have not been as high as they have been in previous years. We had 45 clubs generate 66 teams who played on Saturday afternoons across seven grades.

At the close of nominations in February we had six clubs that nominated a team in the Under 20s grade, however as the weeks went by a number of these clubs were unable to attract player numbers needed to field these teams in time for the beginning of our competition. As a result, this grade unfortunately had to be dropped from the 2016 season.

Statistics show that the majority of players in our competition are aged mid to late 20s. We draw many additional players to this great game of Rugby League though who are much older again and who just want to add a bit of fun and fitness to their lives. Remarkably seven guys over the age of 50 still enjoy hanging out with mates on the weekend, playing the game they grew up loving and who are not quite ready to sit on the couch and hang up their footy boots.

As May came around our Under 20 and A Grade teams headed to Ipswich for the SEQ Chairman’s Challenge and for the first time since its inception, Ipswich won and were crowned the undisputed champions of the weekend.

Our players gave their all over the sixteen hours of playing in two physically challenging matches.

Congratulations on a job well done to Brisbane Second Division A Grade Coach Cameron Joyce and to the Under 20’s coach Wayne Thomas and also to the players who were named in the South East Queensland Representative squad.

UNDER 20s Gold Coast 24 def Ipswich 14 Gold Coast 26 def Brisbane 10 Brisbane 34 def Ipswich 20 OPEN A GRADE Ipswich 48 def Gold Coast 10 Brisbane 30 def Gold Coast 18 Ipswich 62 def Brisbane 16 Izaak Gordon (Albany Creek Gaters) James Crawford (Brighton Roosters) Matthew Lennon (Albany Creek Gaters) Tai Betham (Bulimba Valleys) Tyrone Lockrey (West Brisbane Panthers) Alex Taumoe (West Brisbane Panthers) Troy Swift (Albany Creek Gaters)

Image: Courtesy Catherine Jones

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The loss of the Monday Queen’s Birthday holiday in June this year brought about changes to the format of our Ted Beaumont Chairman’s Trophy matches. Four of the matches were played on the last Saturday in May, then the following weekend’s torrential rain forced the cancellation of the remainder of these games. Midweek venues at local grounds were utilised for the playing of the Northside 1 and Premier Grade matches and the Southside 1 match was played between West Inala Seniors and Bulimba Valleys during the season proper on a fixture round weekend.

As the season’s weekly fixtures continued, our referees kept the on-field antics to a minimum and with 50 send offs throughout the season, 45 of these accepted an early guilty plea. Clubs embraced the new point’s format this season of 3 points for the win, forfeit or bye, 1 point for a loss and 2 points for a draw.

With positions on the ladder moving up and down as the final weeks of competition fixtures came about, keen followers along with players from both Northside and Southside waited eagerly for weekly results to be posted to see if their team(s) slipped in or out of the top 4. Spectators around the suburbs were treated to an entertaining six weeks of finals football.

Premier Grade Grand Final – Izaac Gordon (Albany Creek Gaters) with Birdsall Faapepele (Brighton Roosters) in pursuit

Referees officiating our matches also awarded points to players for their game day performances. These points were tallied each week, kept secret, with the finalists announced to clubs on Preliminary Finals days. On Friday, 23rd September, Souths Sporting Club at Acacia Ridge once again hosted our Presentation Awards evening, where each nominee along with their friends, family and supporters come out to witness the announcement of the winner and runner-up from each grade.

The player who received the most points throughout the year from the Referees was the overall winner and was named as the Ted Beaumont Medal winner on this night. The individual winners were:-

Images: Courtesy Catherine Jones

COMPETITION WINNER RUNNER UP Northside 3

Daniel White (Brighton Roosters)

Jamil Ferris (Fortitude Valley)

Northside 2

Daniel Jones (Norths St Josephs)

Ahlial Robertson (Albany Creek Gaters)

Northside 1

Samuel Vaughey (Wests Mitchelton)

Jack White Dayboro Cowboys

Southside 3

Adam Leach (Jimboomba Thunder)

Dan Smith (Redlands)

Southside 2

Steven Baines (Brothers St Brendans)

Aaron Martin (Capalaba Warriors)

Southside 1

Tai Betham (Bulimba Valleys)

Kane Robazzini (Southern Suburbs) tie

Jake Wong (Souths Sunnybank) Premier Grade

Trent Shield (Waterford)

Gavin Causer (Brighton Roosters)

BRISBANE 2ND DIVISION AWARDS 2016 Nev Rotherham Volunteer of the Year Award. Leny Hoeskma from Albany Creek Gaters ALPHA SPORTS “CLUB OF THE YEAR” AWARD Waterford Demons Rugby League Football Club GLEN OSWALD REPRESENTATIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Joel Adams from West Brisbane Panthers TEN YEAR SERVICE AWARD Catherine Jones – Management Committee Member 2007 to 2016 TWENTY YEAR SERVICE AWARD Ian Harvey – Management Committee Member 1997 to 2016 Debra Goodwin and Keith Beaumont presenting The Ted Beaumont Medal to Daniel White

– Catherine Jones - Brisbane Second Division Rugby League Executive Committee Member LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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IPSWICH RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL

Image: Courtesy Rachael Williamson

GOODNA were simply too good and proved why they were the Ipswich Minor Premiers with a 30/18 defeat of Brothers at North Ipswich Reserve in the Mayor Paul Pisale A Grade Cup. They had led the competition from start to finish and the crowd loved their inspirational play. Brothers had started the day in fine style, winning the Under 19 grade 40/26 against Goodna and Reserve Grade 20/18 against Cobras and looked winners at several stages of the senior grand final. The Brothers backline looked like they would carry the day but the big Goodna forward pack never stopped all game and midway through the second half the trickle became a torrent.

Brothers led for most of the game and looked set to complete a grand final whitewash with their Reserve Grade and Colts premierships safely in hand, but the classy Brethren outfit found themselves struggling late in the game. With the Brothers backline of Ben Seve, Caleb Heke and IRL rookie of the year Loia Fetaoai running riot in the wet conditions, Goodna trailed at the break but when the tide turned there was no stopping the Goodna boys who ran in six tries to three with Max Seumanutafa, Daniel Ioane, Ratu Waqanivalu, Corey Kirk, Perry Ioane and Jackson Solofa going over the white line while Corey Kirk kicked three goals. Their best were co-captains Filipine and

five-eighth Corey Kirk. Desperate to hit the lead for the first time in the match, it was Kirk who found his way over the line before converting his own try from right in front. The family attitude of Goodna was clearly obvious to the large crowd with the Goodna team praying as a team after the game. Brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best were Ben Seve and Loia Fetaoai who scored two tries but the day belonged to the entertaining team from Goodna.

GOODNA EAGLES Joel Bennett

Amanaia Tanielu

Alexander Tupusu

Ramon Filipine

Maxwell Seumanutafa

Sounda Seumanutafa

Ratu Waqanivalu

Fili Ioane

Malaki Oloitoa

Daniel Ioane

Corey Kirk

Jackson Solofa

Zachary Lemberg

Christopher Tauaa

Albert Talipeau

Liva Toelupe

Perry Ioane

STEVE RAI NBO W 07 3496 1110 info@articulateframing.com.au www.articulateframing.com.au PROUD SILVER SPONSORS OF THE IPSWICH JETS 26

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SEAHAWKS RULE THE Tweed Heads Seagulls won the 2016 minor-premiership with an impressive 16 wins from their 17 games. Their point’s differential of a positive 458 was far greater than Tugun (142) who finished second and Southport (130) who finished third.

After leading the eight team competition into the finals the Seagulls lost their way. Tweed Heads Seagulls finished the season on 49 points from Tugun (41), Southport (41), Burleigh Bears (38), Runaway Bay (31), Ormeau (27), Bilambil (26) and Currumbin (18).

Te Kiri scored a double for the Tugun Seahawks while Adam Barnes, Tim Matenga and Ayden Lee also scored tries. Keanu Te Kiri kicked three goals and Reece Worboys a goal. Burleigh’s points came from tries to Rhys Duke and Scott Purvis with Daniel Schwass kicking three goals.

The Burleigh Bears defeated Runaway Bay 34/8 in the elimination final while Tugun flexed their premiership muscles with a dominant 39/6 defeat of the Southport Sharks in the major semi-final. The minor-premiers and favourites Tweed Heads Seagulls were bundled out in straight sets losing to second placed Tugun 28/10 and then to the fast improving Burleigh Bears 20/4 in the preliminary final.

The Grand Final was played at Pizzy Park between Tugun and Burleigh with the Seahawks winning 27/14 after leading 16/8 at half time. Tugun put first points on the board in the 5th minute when Grayson Te Kiri scored the first of his two tries for the day and the boys in blue and white never looked in danger. Adam Barnes was next to score with a great sideline run and it was only Seahawks mistakes that kept the Bears in the game. Scott Purvis put the Bears on the board when he regathered his own kick and a penalty late in the half narrowed the gap to 16/8. The Bears had to be the first to score in the second half but that was not to be with Tim Matenga going over to extend Tugun’s lead. Ayden Lee was the next to score when he went over near the posts and a field goal by Reece Worboys rubbed salt into Burleigh’s wounds late in the game.

Image: Courtesy Paul Goodman Sports Photography

TUGUN RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB – 2016 A GRADE PREMIERS GOLD COAST TWEED COMPETITION - Image: Courtesy Paul Goodman Sports Photography

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an international quality player but he must bring his “A” game to the table week after week.

BECAUSE of the support of the Mackay Regional Council two genuine contenders for the 2017 NRL crown will play in Mackay in February. The NRL trial between the Sydney City Roosters and the North Queensland Cowboys will be a strong gauge of their chances in 2017 as both have serious changes to their rosters.

The trial will be played at BB Print Stadium, home of Cowboys Intrust Super Cup feeder team the QCCS Mackay Cutters on Saturday, February 11th. It will be preceded by a clash between the new-look Cutters team and the Cowboys’ Under 20s side that will contest the 2017 National Youth Competition.

The Cowboys have lost two International props in James Tamou (Panthers) and Ben Hannant (forced retirement through injury) and it will be interesting to see who fills these spots. League Queensland feels that having Hannant coming off the bench in 2015 to relieve Tamou and Scott had a big bearing on their premiership success and quality front row forwards are few and far between. The Cowboys main signings for 2017 are Carlin Anderson who played fullback in the Ipswich Jets Intrust Super Cup victory over the Blackhawks in 2015 and former Northern Pride player Ben Hampton who has spent some time with the Melbourne Storm.

The Roosters have signed well for 2017 with South Sydney’s premiership winning half-back Luke Keary a quality player while former New South Wales winger Michael Gordon is another strong acquisition. I’m not sure if Bondi Beach is the place to put Liam Knight, Paul Carter and Zane Tetevano but time will tell. 2016 was a disaster for the Roosters with offfield dramas and injuries plaguing their season. Their best performance was premiership class while their worst was Intrust Super Cup standard. The Roosters have too many good players not to be contenders and the power-brokers at Bondi Junction will demand a better 2017. Queensland’s Dylan Napa has a point to prove in 2017 with a strong start to the season what the Maroon selectors are looking for. Napa at his best is

The curtain raiser will see a new-look QCCS Mackay Cutters play the Cowboys Under 20’s and once again a strong start to the season is vital for both teams. The Cowboys have one of the better development programs in the NRL with their close alliance with the Blackhawks bearing fruit in 2016 with their Under 16 and Under 18 teams Queensland Champions.

Several of their Under 20’s from 2016 have gone further afield including their Queensland representative half-back Cooper Bambling and Nick Brown who have signed with the Cutters.

The 2017 Cutters will be coached by former Cowboys Under 20 coach Steve Sheppard who will need every assistance he can get to improve their chances next season. The Cutters will field a new-look team with former New Zealand International Setaimata Sa, Bambling, Semisi Tyrell (Warriors Under 20) and up-and-coming forward Nick Brown certain to make a difference.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said it was exciting the Cowboys were returning to Mackay for a pre-season NRL trial.

“The Cowboys certainly have plenty of fans in our region and it’s fantastic they’ll get to see them in action against another NRL team at BB Print Stadium Mackay. “We’ve helped secure this game through our Invest Mackay Events and Conference Attraction program as it will provide an economic boost for the region. “This will be the first NRL pre-season trial game the Cowboys have played in Mackay since they took on the Broncos at the start of 2015.” The match will mark the 13th time the Cowboys have taken a game to Mackay in the past 16 seasons.

Dylan Napa will shine in 2017 Image: NRL Photos

ON SALE NOW! Help children to discover their love of reading with this Rugby League themed magazine.

Rugby League Reads aims to engage young readers ages 7+, in particular those who may be reluctant readers. It teaches young people about the importance of reading as a life skill, as well as showcasing how enjoyable reading for pleasure can be.

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the footy is

February 2017 Saturday, February 11

Saturday, February 11

Sunday, February 26

NRL Pre-season Game North Queensland Cowboys vs Sydney Roosters BB Print Stadium Mackay

QCCS Mackay Cutters vs Cowboys Under 20 BB Print Stadium Mackay

AFL Pre-season Challenge Harrup Park

Find more information at mackay.qld.gov.au Mackay Regional Council proudly investing in Mackay attracting events like no other.

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Theunited unitedvoice voice The theindustry industryuses uses the SupportingLocal LocalCommunities Communities Supporting www. tcq.org.au www. tcq.org.au

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The united voice the industry uses

Taxi Council QLD announces partnership with Bulls Masters Taxi Council Queensland (TCQ) has entered into a partnership with the Bulls Masters, an organisation made up of former Queensland and Australian cricketers whose aim is to foster and develop cricket throughout the state.

“The Bulls Masters are proud to join with an organisation working hard to support communities across QLD; we are excited about the potential for this partnership,” said Bulls Masters Managing Director Jimmy Maher.

The announcement was made at a lunch last week where the TCQ table won a cash prize and promptly gave it back to the charity.

The TCQ will be part of the upcoming U16 Bulls Masters Youth Cup, an initiative developed and delivered by the Bulls Masters. The week-long competition held in Mackay in December will provide emerging cricketers from regional areas with the chance to compete against the best cricketers in their age group.

TCQ Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Wash said the partnership was a natural fit.

“Both the Bulls Masters and the Queensland taxi industry are committed to serving the community across our state at the grass-roots level.

“The work the Bulls Masters do in regional and indigenous areas to develop the game and provide opportunities for young people is outstanding, and we are so pleased to be able to contribute to this wonderful initiative.”

As the Bulls Masters visit regions across Queensland they will be promoting the taxi service in each area, delivering positive messages about the value of taxis to their community and to everyday lives.

The Bulls Masters is financially supporting the event to ease the burden on regional families.

“Queensland’s taxi industry is considered one of the best in the world, and we are linking with some of the greatest players in Australian cricket, Mr Wash said.

“We want to ensure Queenslanders know that taxis are the safest and most reliable form of door to door transport, and we look forward to this partnership helping us drive home that message.”

Taxis are available statewide “Safe, Secure, Reliable” Contact your local taxi company!

..all day, every day!

In smaller regions of Queensland, please refer to the TCQ website: www.tcq.org.au

LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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SAMIOS WOMEN IN LEAGUE FEMALE participation is the fastest growing area of rugby league nationwide. The Queensland women’s rugby league team have been one of the most successful representative sides in the state and have been incredibly successful over an extended length of time. They have had outstanding success against NSW over the past 18 years in State of Origin, having won for 16 years straight. Last year they drew and this year was their first loss ever.

This year Queensland Rugby League (QRL) unveiled a representative playing number to each female player who has worn a Queensland jersey (much like a FOG number) which was an important step in showcasing the history of the game and highlighting Queensland pride. The Queensland Women’s team also had the support of a team sponsor this year, with the players proudly representing sleeve sponsors Samios Plumbing Supplies.

“We support a range of fantastic charities and sporting teams and are proud to be able to support women in league,” said Terry Lucas, Executive General Manager, Samios Plumbing Supplies. “It’s fantastic to see increasing support for women in all sports and in particular, rugby league. Whilst we sponsored the Queensland women’s team, we also want to congratulate the NSW team on their win.”

The Women’s Interstate clash this year was a tough and hard fought game as usual. Although Queensland’s undefeated streak finally came to an end, they only went down by four points. Amelia Kuk (Queensland centre) was held up in the 66th minute and Maroons hooker Brittany Brearley was denied a try in the 70th due to play-the-ball interference. NSW jumped to an 8/0 lead when the visitors were gifted a penalty in front after Bremner copped a high shot. Queensland’s Ali Brigginshaw scored a 79th minute consolation try but it wasn’t enough to keep the trophy.

Brittany Breayley played an outstanding game and was voted by her peers as Queensland’s Player’s Player, and at the QRL Awards night, she was also announced as the QRL’s Women’s Representative Player of the Year.

The State of Origin is just one of more than 90 female-only rugby league competitions across Australia. There are more than 192,649 women and girls already playing rugby league in Australia and this number is increasing. Established in 2007, the Women in League Program was initiated to make women feel proud of their roles and contribution to the game. Now it’s a key fixture on the rugby league calendar. It continues to celebrate and acknowledge the role women play at all levels and in all areas of the Rugby League family.

Jillaroo’s star, Karina Brown, one of Queensland’s best against NSW Image: Courtesy QRL

DID YOU KNOW!  26 % increase in club registrations in 2015 nationally  Over 30 % increase in club registrations in Queensland  11,677 registered female rugby league players  482,000 girls and women involved in playing either touch, tag or tackle  More than 2,000 female coaches, sports trainers and referees  More than 40,000 female volunteers in rugby league  71,000 female NRL club members  More than 2.1 million women following the NRL  A record six female NRL ambassadors appointed 33 LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

Q in Im

2016 ANZAC TEST 6TH MAY 2016

THE test between Australia and New Zealand played in front of more than 27,000 people in Newcastle was a great game of rugby league with New Zealand’s Georgia Hale and their fullback/captain Sarina Fiso the difference between the two teams as the visitors won 26/16 after leading 12/6 at half time. The Jillaroos put first points on the board from a Maddie Studdon penalty but within minutes the Kiwi Ferns hit back with the first try of the game to Atawhai Tupaea who showed great handling skills. Within minutes they extended their lead to 8/2 when Tupaea scored her second try from a magnificent Georgia Hale pass that cut out two players. The big hits from both teams were ground-shaking with 34-year-old Heather Ballinger, Chelsea Baker and Ruan Simms the best of the Australians while Teuila Fotu-Moala was outstanding for New Zealand.

The Jillaroos came back aggressively with ten minutes to go and their fullback Samantha Bremner scored off a great pass from Maddie Studdon to narrow the gap to 8/6. Both forward packs gave all they got leading into the break with big hits from Australia’s Kezie Apps, Vanessa Foliaki, Brittany Breayley and Sims but the Kiwi Ferns were up to the task with Kahurangi Peters and Moala never taking a backward step. Late in the half

the Kiwi centre Maitua Feterika barged over from two metres out to give her team their 12/6 advantage.

Australia had to score first in the second half but it was not to be as the game winning combination of Fiso and Hale once more put the Jillaroos on the ropes with the captain scoring to extend their lead to 16/6. The Jillaroos hit back again with the Gold Coast’s Karina Brown scoring a great individual try as she chased her own kick but the conversion missed so the score narrowed to 16/10 with 20 minutes to play. The work rate of Heather Ballinger in the second half was the best on the field and on several occasions she went close to scoring but once again the Kiwi Ferns captain showed her class to score another individual try which extended their lead to 20/10 which soon became 26/10 when Krystal Rota ran from dummy-half to score a converted try.

The Jillaroos recovered and with Ballinger and Taufa leading the way pressured the Kiwi’s line. Maddie Studdon threw a great pass to Karina Brown to score out wide which Caitlyn Moran converted from the sideline to close the scoring at 26/16. The best for Australia were Baker, Studdon, Ballinger, Taufa and Sims while Fiso, Hale, Tupaea, Fotu-Moala and Krystal Rota played well for the Kiwi Ferns.

AUSTRALIA 1. Samantha Bremner 2. Chelsea Baker 3. Corban McGregor 4. Annette Brander 5. Karina Brown 6. Allana Ferguson 7. Maddie Studdon 8. Simaima Taufa 9. Brittany Breayley 10. Heather Ballinger 11. Kezie Apps 12. Vanessa Foliaki 13. Ruan Sims (c) 14. Libby Cook-Black 15. Kody House 16. Casey Karklis 17. Emma Young 18. Caitlyn Moran Coach: Steve Folkes 34

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Queensland’s Heather Ballinger Image: NRL Photos

THE SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND WOMEN’S GRAND FINALS

Queensland’s Heather Ballnger mage: NRL Photos The South East Queensland Senior Women’s Grand Finals were played at Bishop Park on the 17th September. The standard of play was excellent and the large crowd was entertained throughout. The C Grade Grand Final was played between Mt Gravatt and Logan City Hawks after Inala had won the minor-premiership. In the finals Mt Gravatt were first into the Grand Final after defeating University of Queensland 20/6 and then Inala 24/10 while Logan City Hawks had a big 56/0 win over Jimboomba followed by a 38/0 defeat of University of Queensland. They played Inala for the second spot in the final and defeated the minor-premiers 24/18 in a tight contest. The weeks’ rest was good for Mt Gravatt who dominated the game, winning 24/10 with Rachele Whelan scoring two tries and kicking two goals while Deni Sims, Kedea Atherton and Stacey Garbutt also scored. Olivia Gaffiero and Janet Mitchell scored for the Hawks with Teesha Gavin kicking a goal. The Best on Ground Award went to Adele May from Mt Gravatt.

Under new Coach Richard Dugdale, the Toowoomba Fillies were crowned back to back Premiers in the South East Women’s B Grade competition. This achievement is quite outstanding considering the rocky path to the start of the season. There was a time where it was very uncertain whether the team would get up and running and due to lack of numbers and committed players, had to forfeit the first game of the season.

Easts Mt Gravatt – C Grade Premiers 2016 South East Queensland Photo: SMP Images

EASTS MT GRAVATT Deni Sims Carissa Watego Kedea Atherton Rachel Kerlin Jessica Steinhardt Stacey Garbutt Mihikore Rachele Whelan Cassie Bantick Danica Petkovic (C) Fiona Suter Alecia Hess Opal-Marie Seuao Adele May Jade Parker Erin Buntin Zoey Doyle Thelma-Lett Lee Paris Peka Misty Dullahide Tootsie Lucas

LOGAN CITY HAWKS Teesha Gavin Tanya Watson Kristienne Hudson Kyesha Randall Olivia Gaffierro Nolan-Davis Darcel Colenso Cassandra Simpson Janet Mitchell Sheila-Ann Fisher Saamantha Marsh Hana Oveinkovas Cherri Neho Forrest Akuai Christina Pule Kathleen Payne Holly Hudson Teri Nukunuku Joelene Ord

With no coach or team staff, NRL Regional Game Manager Richard Dugdale stepped up to the plate to head his first ever Women’s team with Central Division Operations Manager, Jodie Teys taking on the Manager/Water Runner role. Richard was well assisted by former Filly and Australian and QLD player Melissa Edwards who captained the team and added the confidence and team spirit to the ladies. With the news of a Coach on board, the team welcomed rising star Molly O’Connell (Player of the Year) back to the area, original Fillies players Kylie Thompson, Karen Reynolds, and a few weeks into the competition, Rebecca Jones.

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THE SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND WOMEN’S GRAND FINALS Returning players Samartha Liesha, Taylor Stevens, Tamara Gibbs, Tamara Law and Lisa Goodman all added their valuable experience. Add in new players, Lauren Cockburn, Amanda Gibson and Ali Sheaffe from Toowoomba, Nicole Weier from Killarney, Chinchilla trio Trish Little, Carlena Gaske and Aime Justice and two Gatton rookies in Jai Godwin and Emily Walker, the team was set to ignite the competition. Mid-season saw the return of Emily Young who was joined by new Fillie Ashleigh Sowter to form a formidable halves combination.

There were nerves aplenty on the big day, with Sunnybank putting a stronger, bigger team on the paddock the result from the previous final did not have the Fillies as favourites.

A few minutes into the match Sunnybank crossed the try line and converted to go ahead 6/0. This made the troops and their supporters pretty nervous. It did however ignite the Fillies who put on 26 unanswered points to go into half time leading 26/6.

On the commencement of half time, the Toowoomba Ladies added a further 8 points before Sunnybank mounted a strong comeback scoring two converted tries. After 60 minutes of skilful attack and brutal defence by both teams, the Fillies held the Premiership Cup aloft for the 2nd consecutive year with a 34/18 victory. Fillies half back, Emily Young, was named Player of the Match.

The A Grade Grand Final saw competition heavy-weights Southern Suburbs play Burleigh. Both teams had representative players aplenty with Souths fielding seven current Queensland representatives in Amelia Kuk, Casey Karklis, Ali Brigginshaw, Renea Kunst, Libby Cook-Black, Stephanie Hancock and Heather Ballinger. Cook-Black, Ballinger and Karklis had all played for Australian against New Zealand in May while Hancock and Kunst were seasoned Internationals. The Bears contained Australian player Karina Brown and current Queensland players in Selena Tranter, Tazmin Gray and Rona Peters. Souths had won the minor-premiership while Burleigh had struggled to defeat the Beerwah Bulldogs 22/16 in the major semi-final.

The first Qualifying Final saw an aggressive Souths march into the Grand Final with a dominant 34/6 defeat of Burleigh who then had to contend with Beerwah in the Preliminary Final. The Bulldogs, who had beaten Carina 16/4 the previous week, were no match for the Bears who went into the Grand Final with a 30/0 victory.

In a complete form reversal the Bears came out and simply out-played Souths in a stirring Grand Final effort that had no answers. The Burleigh back-line led by player of the final

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Zahara Temara were brilliant as they toyed with the Souths defence. Temara scored two tries and kicked two goals while Brown, Tazmin Gray, Tarnisha Lyons and Tallisha Harden also went over the white line. Souths made too many un-forced errors and although Teresa Anderson and Amelia Kuk scored tries they were not in the game at any stage.

TOOWOOMBA FILLIES Karen Reynolds Alexandra Sheaffe Samantha Leisha Taylor Stevens Patricia Little Ashleigh Sowter Emily Young Melissa Edwards Kylie Thompson Jai Godwin Lauren Cockburn Amanda Gibson Molly O’Connell Tamara Gibbs Carlena Youle Rebecca Jones Nicole Weier Emily Walker Aime Justice

SOUTH SUNNYBANK Keenan Curren Tayla Delaforce Chantelle Dodd Lima Soe Sheradynne Hayes Fallon Ord Ana-Marie Afuie Liesha Saltner Brittany Breayley Layla Fauid Karma Maybanks Rosanna Tupu-Tuia Shannon Mato Natalie Gala Marie Dennis Clare O’Driscoll Elizabeth Faamita Naomi Clayton Krysti Walk

SOUTHERN SUBURBS Amy Karklis Courtney Robinson Libby Cook-Black Teresa Anderson Jessica Carey Ali Brigginshaw Karyn Murphy Liahona Theodore Kaysha Thompson Steph Hancock Casey Karklis Renae Kunst Amelia Kuk Ngamoko Hiku Kim Dore Keley Parkin Zhane Kameta Heather Ballinger Shekinah Rollard Patrice Chambers

BURLEIGH BEARS Karina Brown Alysha Lee Chelsea Lenarduzzi Tazmin Gray Tarnisha Lyons Zahara Te Mara Paige Rogers Tayla Pilley Josina Singapu Selena Tranter Jasmin Kemp Tallisha Harden Tia Heu Sasha Mahuika Elizabeth Sue Caitlyn Bantick Rona Peters Simone Panapa Rebekah Shelford

Burleigh Bears – A Grade Premiers 2016 South East Queensland Photo: SMP Images

MIGHTY Mal Meninga who dominates rugby league on and off the field bought his State of Origin ‘Magic’ to the test arena in 2016. Meninga who without doubt should be the next rugby league ‘Immortal’ gave the Kangaroos something they have lacked in recent times and that is pride in the jersey. Simple things like gold, silver and bronze to indicate tests played have been a significant change and the response has been amazing. The selector’s decision to include Semi Radradra in the test played in Newcastle on the 6th May was probably not a good call although he could be the best winger in Australia. On a humorous note the Melbourne Storm winger Marika Koroibete who ran for an incredible 4,007 metres in 25 games for the Storm was selected to tour with the Wallaby’s to Europe without even playing a rugby union game so we are not alone in our attempt to decimate Fijian sport.

The Kangaroos were simply too prepared for a very under-strength New Zealand in Newcastle and the 16/0 score was probably not a good indication of the game. Ten key New Zealand players were not available including Kieran Foran and having the in-experienced Kodi Nikorima marking Johnathan Thurston was not a good call.

However in 21st Century rugby league we talk about the ‘Spine’ being the halfback, hooker, five-eight and full-back and that is where Australia won the game.

The clinical Cooper Cronk, inspirational Johnathan Thurston, never-make-a-mistake Cameron Smith and solid-as-a-rock Darius Boyd had too much combination for New Zealand.

The game played in front of 27,724 people commenced in sensational fashion when a Kiwi player was held off the ball by debutant Semi Radradra who earned himself 10 minutes in the bin and Australia were lucky to not have a penalty try awarded. The Kangaroos hit back and in the 14th minute Darius Boyd, who had a strong game at fullback, scored to give his team a 4/0 lead. After successive penalties Thurston kicked a goal to increase his team’s lead to 6/0. The middle of the first half was hard going with the New Zealand forwards matching the Australians but their backs had no cohesion and never looked like scoring. Tohu Harris, who normally plays in the forwards, was strong in defence while Bronco Jordan Kahu had a fine game. There were eight Broncos playing in the test with three wearing Kiwi jerseys and five playing for Australia.

Michael Morgan came on late in the first half and made an immediate impact, finding space for Greg Inglis to score in the 32nd minute and take the half-time score to 10/0. The second half never reached any great heights as a spectacle with Shaun Johnson not taking control for New Zealand which meant few scoring opportunities. Watene-Zelezniak had a strong game on the wing while Kahu was close to their best at fullback. Australia increased their lead in the 42nd minute after Thurston kicked a penalty following a high tackle on Cameron Smith. Thurston and Cooper Cronk made breaks that led to nothing with Tohu Harris a powerhouse of defence in the New Zealand backline. The Kiwis attacked the Australian line and forced a drop out which was dropped by Johnston which stopped the last real attacking move all game by the men in black. Darius Boyd who had a strong game created room for Blake Ferguson who scored in the 79th minute to close the game down at 16/0.

The best for Australia was Paul Gallen who never stopped all game and thoroughly deserved his Charles Savory Medal as player of the game while Boyd, Cronk, Morgan and Tamou also played well. The best for New Zealand were Tohu Harris, Jordan Kahu, Jesse Bromich and Adam Blair.

Semi Radradra Image: Greg Porteous Newspix

AUSTRALIA - 1 Darius Boyd 2. Semi Radradra 3. Greg Inglis 4. Josh Dugan 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Johnathan Thurston 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Matt Scott 9. Cameron Smith (c) 10. Paul Gallen 11. Josh Papalii 12. Matt Gillett 13.

Corey Parker 14. Josh McGuire 15. Michael Morgan 16. James Tamou 17. Sam Thaiday Coach: Mal Meninga New Zealand – 1 Jordan Kahu 2. Jason Nightingale 6. Tohu Harris 4. Gerard Beale 5. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 14. Kodi Nikorima 7. Shaun Johnson 8. Jesse Bromwich (c) 9. Lewis Brown 10. Adam Blair 11. Kevin Proctor 12.

Manu Ma’u 13. Jason Taumalolo 15. Greg Eastwood 16. Martin Taupau 17. Sam Moa 18. Brad Takairangi 20.

Kenny Bromwich Coach: Stephen Kearney LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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FOUR NATIONS 2016

Australia v New Zealand in Perth Image: NRL Photos

BIG Mal made his intentions obvious when the 2016 Australian side was announced for the test in Perth against New Zealand and the Four Nations tournament in Great Britain against England, Scotland and New Zealand.

He had an eye for the future, and form leading into the 2017 World Cup was paramount in his mind.

Retiring players like the Broncos’ Corey Parker were not considered, aged war-horses like Cronulla’s Paul Gallen who had made himself unavailable for 2017 Origin selection were left out and if you had a shaky off-the-field attitude like Andrew Fifita and big Semi Radradra you also missed the plane.

Other players to see the selectors’ wrath were Josh McGuire (Broncos) and James Tamou (Cowboys) as the panel went for a new look power-house forward group that included Shannon Boyd (Raiders) and Tyson Frizell (Dragons). Sadly big Canberra Raiders and Queensland forward Josh Papalii was selected but withdrew with injury concerns. His place was taken by the upand-coming Jake Trbojevic from Manly.

The Kangaroos played New Zealand in Perth on the 14th October with Shannon Boyd, Valentine Holmes and Tyson Frizell all making their test debuts. Holmes was simply outstanding and continued his winning form from the NRL Grand Final as he played like a veteran in their 26/6 victory. Meninga with many seasons experience as a representative coach was too organised for the Kiwi’s David Kidwell who left his best player in Jason Taumalolo on the sideline for 30 minutes when he was needed. Big Greg Inglis (2), Valentine Holmes, Darius Boyd and Boyd Cordner scored for the Kangaroos with Thurston kicking three goals while Gold Coast bound Kevin Proctor scored for the Kiwis.

Australia played Scotland in their opening Four Nations fixture and although the Kangaroos won 54/12 there was a period of 30 minutes in the middle of the game where Scotland outscored them 12/6. Meninga rested several of his top-liners including Thurston, Gillett, Darius Boyd and Matt Scott while Moylan, Maloney, Trbojevic, Justin O’Neill and Friend were on debut. Cameron Smith was asked to rest but refused and played the opening 40 minutes with Jake Friend playing in the second half.

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It was obvious that Scotland were no match for the Kangaroos who led 30/0 after 30 minutes with tries to Ferguson, Maloney (2), Cronk and Mansour (2). The Bravehearts hit back just before half time with a try to Ryan Brierley to give the Kangaroos a handy 30/6 lead at the interval. Australia were first to score in the second session with Dugan going over and then Scotland lifted their game to contain the Kangaroos for 20 minutes while their Ben Kavanagh narrowed the gap to 36/12 with a converted try. Australia lifted in the closing stages with Frizelle, Morgan and finally Trbojevic scoring to close the game down at 54/12. Several Australians played for Scotland including Luke Douglas (Titans), Lachlan Coote (Cowboys) and Sheldon PoweHobbs (Northern Pride).

The best for Australia were Matt Moylan (Man of Match) and Cooper Cronk while Ben Kavanagh was the pick of the Bravehearts.

New Zealand had improved from their 26/6 shellacking in Perth and defeated host nation England 17/16 in their opening game with a Shaun Johnson field-goal proving the difference. Australia played New Zealand on the 6th November with tournament favouritism on the line and for 75 minutes of the game it was Australia. Big Mal ran out his top-side minus Cooper Cronk with the Cowboys pairing of Thurston and Morgan taking the halves duties. The Kiwis were their own worst enemy, allowing stupid mistakes at critical times and after conceding penalties in the 8th and 9th minute Man of the Match, Blake Ferguson scored after good work from Morgan and Thurston.

This lead was extended to 10/0 in the 12th minute when Thurston scored after initial lead-up work from Valentine Holmes.

New Zealand recovered and looked dangerous in patches but the Australian defence kept them scoreless in the first half. Greg Inglis ankle-tapped a runaway Jordan Rapana to stop a certain try but late in the half there were signs of a Newlealand recovery.

The second half was nine minutes old when Solomone Kata forced his way over in the corner to give New Zealand their first points of the game but on several occasions when New Zealand looked dangerous stupid penalties let Australia off the hook. Tohu Harris on two occasions gifted the Kangaroos two points when he gave away a penalty in front of the posts.

The board read 14/4 to Australia and the New Zealand team looked down and out when Jordan Rapana scored the try of the game in the 76th minute. Shaun Johnson ran with the ball, chipped over the Australian defence, picked up the ball and passed outside to Shaun Kenny-Dowell onto Rapana who scored out wide. Once again Johnson missed the conversion but with three minutes to go the Kangaroos were looking fragile at 14/8. Johnson was again involved in the 80th minute when he was held up over the line.

The best for Australia were Ferguson, Thurston, Boyd, Smith, Klemmer and O’Neill while Isaac Luke, Johnson and Jason Taumalolo played well for New Zealand.

The third game for Australia was against traditional enemy England who had been bolstered by ‘master-coach’ Wayne Bennett.

The ‘Poms’ had lost by one point to New Zealand in their opening game and had to beat Australia to make the final but schoolboy errors cost them dearly. England actually led 6/2 after 24 minutes but twice when given penalties they failed to find touch and the relentless Meninga-coached Kangaroos never let them forget. The last ten minutes of the first half was all Australia as Ferguson scored for the Kangaroos after good lead-up work from Cronk and Boyd to give them the lead and on the dot of half-time Thurston kicked a 40 metre penalty to increase that it to 10/6.

The second session was all Australia as Inglis, Scott, Dugan, Gillett and Valentine Holmes scored while Widdop and Ryan Hall scored for England. The Ryan Hall try in the 74th minute was the best of the game but it was too little too late from the home team. The best for England were Sam Burgess and Elliott Whitehead while Cooper Cronk (Man of Match), Cameron Smith and Darius Boyd were the pick of the Australians. The final score was 36/18 and England will have to improve markedly to threaten Australia or New Zealand in 2017.

Cooper Cronk Image: NRL photos 39 LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

DOWN MEMORY LANE QUEENSLAND 1946

THE Second World War was over and some sort of normality came to the Brisbane Rugby League competition. The first Great Britain touring team to play in Australia since 1936 arrived and the war-weary crowds flocked to the rugby league.

Brisbane, captained by Jack Reardon won the Bulimba Cup after defeating Ipswich twice and Toowoomba once but the mining town’s two victories over Toowoomba ensured the Cup went down the range the Brisbane. Brisbane defeated Ipswich 34/23 and 30/24 and Toowoomba 37/8 while their only loss was 21/18 to Toowoomba in Toowoomba. Len Kenny starred for Brisbane scoring a treble in the 34/23 defeat of Ipswich while Jack Ryrie scored a treble in the 37/8 defeat of Toowoomba.

The Great Britain team were the first English rugby league team to tour Australia since the magnificent 1936 side which had won the series 2/1 after Australia had taken the first test. The 1946 side was nick-named the ‘Indomitables’, not because of their never-say-die attitude but simply because they arrived in Australia on the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable which also carried hundreds of repatriated Australian and New Zealand soldiers.

The touring team defeated New South Wales twice and drew with Australia 8/8 in Sydney on the 17th June in front of 64,526 people. They arrived in Queensland several days later

BULIMBA CUP – L Murphy, Len Kenny,

Jack Reardon (C), Hughie Melrose, Reg Pegg, Ted Verrenkamp, John Grice, Nev Ryrie, Reg Kay, Bill Tyquin, A Thompson,C Green, Roy Westaway, Len Pegg, J Nolan, G Edwards, Eddie Brosnan, Jack Ryrie, W Whyte, D Dobson, Jack Schatz, N Sue See, J Neal, R Stewart

for the northern part of the tour and booked into the old Hotel Daniell in George Street for their months stay in the Sunshine State. A World War had interrupted International Rugby League with many of the players returned servicemen. Several of the English players had toured with the 1936 team including their captain Gus Rismen but no Queenslanders had International experience apart from Johnny Grice, Reg Kay and Roy Westaway who had featured in the first test.

Frank Whitcombe, Doug Phillips and Ken Gee were playing their sixth game in 15 days while Frank Whitcombe, the toughest and hardest worked member of the party, would play his ninth successive game. Test stars Ernest Ward had a knee injury and Tommy McCue shoulder trouble, legacies of the Test match; both men were unavailable for the Queensland game. England’s champion loose forward Ike Owens played against Queensland. Owens had his heel and knee treated in the dressing rooms prior to the game. Team manager Walter Popplewell said Ike told him he was fit to play and that was good enough for him and Owen stayed in the team. Herb Steinohrt, veteran Kangaroos forward and Australia’s Test captain in 1932, saw England draw the first Test in Sydney. He commented: ‘Owens was the greatest loose forward he had ever set eyes on’. Steinhort coached the Australian forwards in the second Test and was coach of the Queensland team.

The Tourists would still field a strong side, including ten Test men, and they were expected to beat Queensland as New South Wales whom they defeated twice, won both their games against Queensland with ease. Prior to the Queensland game their Welsh fullback Joe Jones broke his finger at training at the Brisbane Cricket Ground so Rismen, who normally played centre, took that position.

In the most sensational upset of the tour, the British Rugby League side was beaten 25/24

by Queensland who never stopped all game.

Gus Risman had a bad day and kicked only three goals from eight attempts and England’s passing and handling was well below the usual standard although Ike Owens and Joe Egan were outstanding. Mid way through the Brilliant opportunism by Kenny helped Queensland to a 25/24 win over England, Dai Jenkins on knees; Frank Whitcombe, Doug Phillips and Les White can only look on.

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DOWN MEMORY LANE second half the touring team were nine points down, but they rallied well and if Risman had converted a last minute try they would have won. Queensland opened the scoring, when Melrose received from Kenny and went over for a try. The English team settled down and soon equalised through Egan who crossed near the corner. Gayler landed a penalty goal for Queensland but the Tourists went ahead with a try from Johnson which was converted by Risman.

The Queensland forwards were warned for vigorous play.

Kitching scored a try but Queensland responded with a converted try. A penalty goal, a try and a converted try gave Queensland a good lead, but two fine tries by Eric Batten a goal and a penalty goal by Risman followed, A try to Queensland followed but Albert Johnson, with two minutes to go picked up a long pass from Ike Owens near half way and scored a magnificent try to narrow the gap to 25/24 but Gus Risman missed the conversion.

Tyquin, had led 10/5 midway through the half. It was clearly obvious that either of the Brisbane centres were better than the Australian pairing of Jorgensen and Bailey and Brisbane and Queensland had played with aplomb against the tourists.

In another example of selection before “Origin” Grice and Westaway were dropped for the 3rd Test which England won 20/7 to take the series. If that was not frustrating enough for loyal Queensland supporters, Eric ‘Barcaldine’ Bowe was a reserve for the 1st and 2nd Tests but never ran onto the field and was also dropped for the 3rd Test. Such is life.

Six clubs contested the 1946 BRL season with Easts, Souths, Valleys and Brothers playing in the semi-finals. Souths, who had won the 1945 crown, were regarded as season

Queensland (25) tries Len Kenny (2), Hugh Melrose (1), Eddie Brosnan (1), and Billy Morris (1) Goals Jack Gayler (5). England (24) tries Albert Johnson (2), Eric Batten (2), Joe Egan (1), Jack Kitching (1) Goals Gus Risman (3). Referee SW Chambers and Linesmen J Thompson & F Leighton Following the Queensland game on the 22nd June the touring team defeated Wide Bay 16/12, Central Queensland 35/12, North Queensland 55/16 and Mackay an amazing 94/0 before returning to Brisbane to prepare for the 2nd Test which was played on the 6th July. The Australian selectors had ignored the good form of the Queensland players and only made one change to the 1st Test team, bringing in Newcastle’s Jack Hutchinson for the injured Noel Mulligan. A crowd of more than 40,000 packed the Brisbane Exhibition Ground to see the tourists destroy Australia 14/5 with Arthur Bassett going over for three tries.

Following this game a Brisbane team (see above) captained by the legendary Jack Reardon played Great Britain at the Brisbane Cricket Ground on the 9th July.

favourites with Internationals John Grice and Reg Kay in the team but their season began to unravel on the 10th August when Valleys led by Ivan Blow defeated Souths 27/13. Several days later a Brisbane team was selected to play Wide Bay and Grice and Kay were dropped and replaced by Bernie Johnson and Paul Steinheuer. On the 24th August Brothers defeated Souths 17/8 after leading 12/0 at half time and put the pre-season favourites out of the competition. On the 31st August Eastern Suburbs defeated Valleys 20/5 after leading 10/2 at half time which put Easts into the Grand Final to meet the winner of the Brothers vs Valleys clash on the 7th September.

Reardon was in the twilight of a magnificent career, having played four tests for Australia on the 1937/1938 Kangaroo tour and 21 games for Queensland (1936-1941). The Great Britain team had seven test regulars while the Brisbane team contained John Grice, Reg Kay and Roy Westaway who had played in the 1st and 2nd tests for Australia. It is history now that the Brisbane team lost a magnificent battle 21/15 with the last Great Britain try booed by all sections of the crowd. The tourists led 12/10 at half time after Brisbane, through tries to Jack Schatz and Bill

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DOWN MEMORY LANE Albert Johnson (R) and Queensland’s Len Kenny (L)

EASTS: J Doonar , J Schatz, H Kissick, N Ryrie, A Stillaway, D Johnson, R Johnson, J Jager, C Green, R O’Neill, J Ryrie, T Drysdale, R Mclennan VALLEYS: D O’Connor, L Kenny, J Horrigan, C Hayes, R Wise, I Blow, R Williamson, R Westaway, J Clarke, N Thompson, R Ward, J Arundell, L Brohman

A crowd of more than 7,000 were entertained by two strong rugby league teams with Valleys winning 17/14 after leading 17/9 late in the game. Brothers led by Jack Reardon played well in patches but they appeared to close the game up and never looked dangerous. The star of the game for Valleys was Ray Ward who had been bought into the team at the last minute to replace injured test player Roy Westaway.

The Grand Final was played on the Brisbane Cricket Ground on the 14th September with both teams close to their strongest combinations of the season although Brisbane representative Paul Steinheuer was missing from Easts.

A crowd of more than 10,000 witnessed a dour encounter with the only try of the game scored by the brilliant Len Kenny in the first half.

Easts fought bravely and played most of the second half with eleven men as injuries put Kissick and Doonar on the sideline. Valleys won the game 5/2 with their best being O’Connor, Jack Horrigan, Williamson and Arundel while no Easts player went near Jack Ryrie.

Around the state the game was played with Townsville defeating Cairns 24/2 in the Carlton Shield, Mount Isa with Bobby Bax winning the best player award defeating Proserpine in the Wilson Cup. The premiers of the Ipswich competition were Tivoli where the Queensland captain Col Thornton led his team to a 16/0 defeat of West End captained

by Les ‘Monty’ Heidke. After the game both Thornton and Heidke were carried shoulder-high from the field by players and supporters. In Toowoomba the competition was won by Valleys, Bundaberg defeated Cherbourg 29/15 in the Core Cup, Maryborough won the Kerr Challenge Cup, Rangers won the Charleville competition, Roma Cities won in Roma and Wallabys had won in Gladstone.

AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM 2ND TEST 6th July 1946 V GREAT BRITAIN at Brisbane Exhibition Ground BACK (L-R): E.J. Simmonds (Manager), A O’Connor (Selector), F Farrell, G Watt, Eric Bowe (Central Queensland), Eddie Brosnan (Brisbane Brothers), B Gray (Selector), Cyril Connell (Selector) MIDDLE: L Cooper, E Newham, J Hutchinson, A Clues, Roy Westaway (Valleys), Reg Kay (Brisbane Souths) FRONT: Dave Parkinson, Pat Devery, Herb Steinohrt (Coach/Selector), R Bailey (Captain), A Johnson (Coach/Selector), John Grice (South Brisbane), Joe Jorgensen

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MOUNT ISA AND DISTRICT RUGBY LEAGUE

CLONCURRY Eagles won their first major premiership in the modern era against Normanton Stingers 28/14. The Eagles kicked off and Normanton Stingers tried to put a hole in Eagles defence without succeeding. After a change-over Normanton capitalised off of a dropped ball and Kurtley Busch scored at the right corner post four minutes into the game. The kick was converted and the Stingers led for the first and what would be the only time in the game. Both teams were feeling pressured and knocked the ball on several times before Eagles sealed possession.

Final result against the Stingers who lost their key forward David Crampton to the Townsville Blackhawks.

The Stingers who last won the crown in 2012 were beaten 40/28 by the Curry in the major semi-final and had to play Townies in Normanton to see who went into the big game.

– DEREK BARRY Image: Courtesy North West Star

With 16 minutes remaining in the first half, Eagles regained possession and a few quick steps from Corey Moseley saw the Curry score to the left of the posts. The try was converted

by James Baira (pictured) to level at 6/6. It wasn’t long before Eagles were at it again with Clifford Johnny sealing a try under the posts. It was converted just before halftime to give the Eagles a 12/6 lead. The second session was only minutes old when the Stingers Lewis Baker suffered an ankle injury. Eagles tried to take advantage and almost scored at the left corner post but was pulled off field one metre out.

With about 26 minutes left of the game Eagles moved to the right of Stingers’ defensive line and Clifford Johnny ran 20 metres to score at the right corner post. The try was converted to increase the Cloncurry lead to 18/6. With 22 minutes to go Eagles player Trent Bell pushed over the line to score under the posts. Baira converted the try and at 24/6 it was a bridge too far for Normanton. Eagles pace picked up and they kicked a 40-20. A quick play saw Jeffrey Wilson score and converted to take the score to 28/6 but Normanton to their credit came back with two unconverted tries to Camden Pasco and Dwayne Savo to take the final score to 28/14.

Eagles coach James Baira said the team toughed it out at the start but got the grind out and sealed a win. “Cloncurry hasn’t done to well in the last seven years,” he said. “It is the first time since 1988 that we have won major and minor premierships and that is a fantastic result.” This season the Cloncurry Eagles led by 2016 Cooper Boot Award winner James Baira along with Schakarne Aitkens, Lesley Gallagher and Jeffrey Wilson the Eagles have remained undefeated at home and on the 28th August they defeated the Normanton Stingers to take first spot in the Grand Final and were hoping to avenge the 2012 Grand LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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MIGHTY IVANHOES BACK ON TOP ONE of the great clubs in the Cairns competition are Ivanhoes.

They have played in the competition since 1923 and remain the oldest existing club in the CDRL Competition followed by Brothers who entered the fray in 1926. Ivanhoes Rugby League Club was founded in 1923 when the Kia-ora Football Club was renamed the Ivanhoe Knights. The club was based at Norman Park on Sheridan Street in Cairns City in its early days. According to local folklore, the club’s early name came from a guesthouse named Ivanhoe Boarding House’, which overlooked the club’s training ground. A number of the club’s players lived in the guest house. During their early days at Norman St, the club gained a reputation as being battlers, a working man’s club, a tag that has persisted through the decades. The club has miraculously survived since 1923 on ‘shoestring’ budgets against all the odds, a legacy of the thousands of hours of dedicated and determined hard work from the club’s fantastic supporters over the years.

The club won A Grade premierships in 1926, 1927, 1928, 1940, 1950, 1958, 1963, 1971, 1990 and 1991 but there has been a premiership drought since then. Their 1950 team coached by the legendary Jack Seary went through the season undefeated and supplied 13 players to the Cairns Foley Shield team that lost the Foley Shield Final to the Jack Horrigan-led Ayr. Over the years Ivanhoes have had some outstanding players and coaches including Ron Griffiths who took the team to the 1958 premiership and played many games for Queensland in the late 1940’s into the 1950’s and Terry Hammond who won the crown with Ivanhoes in 1971. Hammond won Foley Shield Finals with Cairns and Mount Isa and is a legend in North

Queensland. Playing alongside Terry Hammond for Ivanhoes, Cairns and North Queensland were Peter Lazarus and Robbie Henley who gave sterling service to the club for many seasons.

Ivanhoes champion lock, Robbie Henley, tackled by Peter Luppi.

IVANHOES RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB – UNDEFEATED CAIRNS A GRADE PREMIERS 1971 BACK (L-R): R Jones, G Lee, J McAllister, R Ellis, Bruce Carr, B Slade, John Skardon MIDDLE: M Szelag, Robbie Henley, J Reid, D Ely, R Stevenson, M Lynch, R Chandler FRONT: J Duncan (Masseur), R Dudgeon (Ass/Manager), M Morgan (Selector), Terry Hammond (Captain/Coach), D Campbell (President), D Ardrey (Manager), D Slade (Selector) ABSENT: D Evans, M Puet, Arthur Tsakissiris

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MIGHTY IVANHOES BACK ON TOP The club’s most recent premiership success was in 1991, which followed their premiership win in 1990. In 1998 after a few lean years the Knights returned to the Winners Circle taking out the Minor Premiership in the 75th Year, only to lose the Grand Final to Mossman-Port Douglas. In 2001, Ivanhoes succumbed to Mareeba 21/18 in the dying stages of the Grand Final to finish as runners up for the second time in four seasons.

In recent years the strong connection between junior and senior has borne fruit and the club currently has more than 300 players from Under 7’s to A Grade.

John Skardon and Noel Slade left the club and played for the North Queensland Cowboys while Justin Hodges commenced his career in the red, blue and white of Ivanhoes. PNG International and top-line NRL hooker James Segyaro is another talented junior.

The 21st Century has seen lean times at the club but signs of improvement emerged with the appointment of Jamie Frizzo as A Grade Coach. The club’s decision to stick with local juniors also paid dividends and the dam burst in 2016 with both A Grade and Reserve Grade making the Grand Finals. Innisfail were the minor-premiers in A Grade in front of Ivanhoes while Tully edged Ivanhoes for the minor-premiership in reserve grade. The Innisfail Leprechauns were the team to beat all year but lost their way leading into the finals. Ivanhoes on the other hand improved and after defeating Tully in both grades in week two of the finals they knew they were a genuine premiership threat. The A Grade won 26/10 in a dominant performance while the ‘reggies’ won 26/22 in a tight contest. Cairns Brothers defeated Innisfail 34/28 to move into the Grand Final which meant Ivanhoes had to beat their 2015 nemesis to move into the big one.

The 2015 Grand Final had seen the Leprechauns defeat the Knights 30/20 but that was not going to happen in 2016 with a rugged 12/4 victory for Ivanhoes courtesy of Brent Oosen and Zane Prior tries and two conversions from Jared Verney. The Leprechauns had led 4/0 at the break but the never-say-die Ivanhoes dominated the second half.

Cairns Brothers went into the Grand Final as favourites having beaten Ivanhoes 22/14 in the first week of the finals but the Knights had a hunger to win a premiership that would get them over the line. The opening 20 minutes were all Ivanhoes who skipped to a 10/0 lead through tries to Tristan Mackay and Akeripa Tia-Kilifi but with the clock ticking the Brethren scored two converted tries through Chris Reisen and Corey Child to go into the half time break at 12/12. Ivanhoes had the best defense of any club in the CDRL at 15 points a game compared to Brothers 26 and this proved the difference in the end. Neither team could score for the next 37 minutes but something had to break and when Player of the Game Troyson Bassini scored beside the post for Ivanhoes to give his team a six point lead the Ivanhoes faithful went wild. On the bell Jared Verney kicked a field goal to increase the score to 19/12. The best for Ivanhoes were Troyson Bassini, Ben Reed and Akeripa Tia-Kilifi while Chris Reisen had a magnificent game for Brothers.

Brothers did have some reason to celebrate however, after their Under 18s side beat Innisfail 32/16 in their grand final.

Tully Tigers proved too strong for Ivanhoes in the Reserve Grade grand final, running out 24/6 winners in a spiteful game while Mossman-Port Douglas Sharks clinched the Second Division premiership after a thrilling 22/20 victory over Cairns Kangaroos.

IVANHOES RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB C.D.R.L. A GRADE PREMIERS 2016 BACK: Jason Ablett (Trainer), Jarrod Burton, James Watson, Lippy Tia Kilifi, Jarred Verney, Ali Henley, Cameron Gant (Physiotherapist) MIDDLE: Cameron Murdoch (Manager), Reese Munster, Regan Verney, Josh Reed, Michael Starr, Brent Oosen, Paul Herron (Head trainer) FRONT: Brad Quadling, Zane Prior, Trent Barnard, Tristan Mackay, Ben Reed (Capt), Wyatt Barnes, Troyson Bassini, Ben Router (Coach)

Image: Courtesy Laurie Henley

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RUGBY LEAGUE COUNTRY

Image: Wandering Willows Photography

HERBERT RIVER ‘CRUSHERS’ RUGBY LEAGUE A GRADE TDRL PREMIERS 2016 BACK (L-R): Desley Cosenza (Treasurer) Adrian Chinotti (secretary) Louie Gaggiano (first Aid) Peter Seri (Interchange Official) Graham Gibson (first Aid blue shirt)Mark Chiesa (Manager) Billy Johnson (Strapper – yellow shirt) KNEELING (L-R) Mark Cockburn (head strapper) Ian Schiffilliti (Coach-hat) Lachlan LaRosa, LukeMurray, Kianan Blanco, Damon Cockburn, Damian Devietti, Andrew Quabba, Scott Gibson, Steven Devietti, Samson O’Neil, Joe Pennisi (President) FRONT (L-R):Drew Chinotti, Troy Kapia, Mitch Seri, Aaron Solari, Todd Cockburn, Troy Menegon, Brendon Devietti, Ben Stanford

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Centrals finished the regular season in 3rd position and were the only other team to defeat Herbert River in the regular season. The Tigers defeated Brothers 18/10 in the preliminary final and took A Grade and Under 20 teams to the Grand Finals.

Norths had a hot and cold season and were very good when they were good but inconsistency cost them dearly. The club had one of the best rosters in the TDRL with Wayne Ulugia, Tom Humble, Ricky Thorby and Damon Rauhini in the side but producing their best form on the paddock was a struggle. Both Norths and Western Lions finished the season with seven wins from 14 starts but the Lions struggled in defence. The Burdekin were also disappointing in defence although their attack at 29 points a game was the second best in the league while Charters Towers (two wins) and University (two wins) struggled all season.

halftime, but the momentum swung back to Centrals in the second as the Tigers scored the next four to trail 22/20 with less than 10 minutes remaining until fulltime. The Tigers were

BR O TH E

IT’S that time of the year when we dissect who won, who should have won, who lost and who will challenge in 2017.

In the Townsville and District Competition the 2015 premiers were the Burdekin Roosters who struggled for much of the 2016 season and never made the five-team semi-finals. Their opponents in the 2015 decider and 2015 minor-premiers were the Herbert River Crushers and the boys from the River shone. The Crushers won the minor-premiership, scoring an imposing 515 points in their 14 games for an average of 37 points. They also had the best defence in the league only conceding 11 points per game. Townsville Brothers are a team on the rise and had all four grades in the semi-finals and were successful taking premierships in Reserve Grade with a hardfought 24/20 victory over Herbert River, Under 20 won 50/10 over Centrals after going through the season undefeated and Under 18 won 20/12 over the Burdekin. Brothers A Grade, who had beaten Herbert River in August, bowed out in the preliminary final to Centrals but will be a force in 2017 with a very strong stable of up-and-coming players.

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The Herbert River Crushers secured premiership redemption by a winning a drama-charged Townsville and Districts Rugby League grand final 32-20 against a brave Centrals Tigers. The Crushers ran rampant in the opening half to lead 22/0 at LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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denied a try when Lenny Magey scored with five on the clock but two players were ruled to be offside and the try was disallowed.

Herbert gathered their composure, with Crushers winger Samsen O’Neill diving over in the corner in the following set, before Crushers captain Todd Cockburn grounded a dropped ball in the Tigers’ in-goal to seal it just seconds before fulltime. It was indeed a nearflawless first half from Herbert River, with Crushers winger Lachlan La Rosa scoring a hat-trick and O’Neill scoring Herbert River’s other four-pointer during 40 minutes of complete Herbert River dominance.

the ladder with 26 points in front of Wests (24), Moranbah (14), Norths (12), Mackay Brothers (11), Souths (11) and Sarina, who were the 2015 minor premiers and club champions, last.

In the first week of the semi-finals Moranbah defeated Norths 28/22 and in what we never considered a boil-over Wests defeated Magpies 22/18. The following week the Brahmans defeated Wests 20/10 in a very tight game to take first place in the Grand Final while Magpies got their premiership ambitions back on track with a 36/6 defeat of the Miners. The Wests vs Brahmans game could have gone either way with the Brahmans leading 6/0 before Wests came back and scored two tries to take a 10/6 lead. The Brahmans eventually ran out 20/10 victors and booked first position in the Grand Final but maybe the long road would have been better preparation. The Qualifying Final between Wests and Magpies was a real battle royal with an 8/6 score-line after 80 minutes of hard rugby league.

The Grand Final could not have started worse for the Brahmans with former Cutters star Harley Bickey scoring in the opening three minutes and although the Brahmans scored the next two tries they never recovered. Late in the first half the Brahmans led 12/6 but on the bell Magpies hit back with a converted try and the signs were ominous for the defending premiers. The Brahmans outside backs struggled all game and Phil Ramage had an off-night with his kicks in general play so the Magpies played to their strength and dominated the second half scoring 16 unanswered points to lead 28/12 before Ramage kicked a reluctant penalty after the bell. The best for Magpies were Beau Dixon, Matt Harris, Jerome Iakimo, Matt Temby and Lee Williams while Adam Wright and Byron Taylor tried hard for the Brahmans.

The Whitsunday Brahmans, Magpies and Wests were all capable of winning the Mackay and District Competition with all three defeating the others at different times during the season. Magpies had easily the best attacking side in the eight team competition, averaging 31 points a game compared to Wests (25) and the Brahmans (24). The Brahmans had continued on from their 2015 season with magnificent defence only conceding 13 point a game in the regular season but they were clearly missing the attacking qualities of their English backs from 2015. Alex Clare had departed to the Sunshine Coast where he was part of their representative squad that won the 47th Battalion Trophy while the retired Anthony Blackwood and injured Jack Briscoe were sorely missed. The Brahmans won the minor premiership but it came down to the wire with Magpies nipping at their heels all season and Wests looking on with interest. Magpies took second spot on

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this but the previously undefeated Rockhampton Brothers led 18/6 with 15 minutes to go in the Rockhampton and District Grand Final but went down to a more determined Norths Chargers 24/18. Norths President Bevan Hopes was over the moon with three of the club’s teams competing on Grand Final day with the Reserve Grade going down 52/30 to the Woorabinda Warriors while their Under 20 grade lost 24/20 to the Yeppoon Seagulls.

Brothers had clearly won the minor premiership with 15 wins from 15 starts and defeated Norths 30/20 in the major semi-final. Until the Grand Final they were the only undefeated A Grade team in Queensland.

Norths had struggled into the Grand Final with six of their top players injured throughout the season and they took no

LOCAL LOCAL RUGBY RUGBY LEAGUE LEAGUE LOCAL RUGBY LEAGUE Supporting Supportingthe theWhitsunday Whitsunday Supporting the Whitsunday Rugby RugbyLeague LeagueCommunity Community Rugby League Community

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Image: Courtesy Bevan Hopes

CQU NORTHS CHARGERS RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB – ROCKHAMPTON A GRADE PREMIERS 2016 STANDING: Bevan Hopes (President),Brent Williams, Ron Poncho (FAO),Dean Loram (LS),Callin Atkinson, Thomas Whitehead, Russell Webber (obscured) Caleb Tull, Brodee Patti, Josh Johnston, Michael Songoro, Daniel Levi, Matt Jarvis, Lloyd Stiegler, Alex Hopes (Supporter), Andrew Dale. KNEELING: Kane Hardy (Coach), Julyess Jarvis, Dylan Webber, Dan Tanner (Captain), Todd Titmus, Nathan Bassini, Jack White, Bryan Spence.

part in the last half of the season, including star signing Simon Gregory, Brent Williams and star half Dean Allen.

The Grand Final was played before one of the biggest crowds in over a decade and the game surpassed all expectations, with veteran captain Dan Tanner leading from the front along with other old boys Todd Titmus, Andrew “Heavy” Dale, Matthew Jarvis and Russell Webber.

They combined with 18-year-old halves pairing Jack White and Caleb Tull to turn around an 18/6 deficit with 13 minutes remaining to snatch an exciting victory.

The winning try was scored by 19-year-old Bryan Spence who earlier in the day had played a full game in under 20s so it was a wonderful day for the club and their policy to The Sunshine Coast/Gympie competition has been decided with the Maroochydore/Coolum Swans breaking a 16-year premiership drought to defeat the Kawana Dolphins 18/16

in a tight contest.

The Swans had lost the previous two grand finals and finished the season in third spot behind minor premiers the Caloundra Sharks and Kawana Dolphins. In Week One of the finals the Maroochydore/Coolum boys defeated Caboolture 32/10 to finish their season and the Kawana Dolphins upset the premiership favourites Caloundra 38/6 to advance to the Grand Final. In the preliminary final the Swans flexed their muscles defeating the Sharks 26/12 and took momentum into the big game. “It’s unbelievable,” co-captain Murray Goldsworthy said. “The boys are ecstatic. We dug deep. Kawana gave us everything, we just came out on top, it’s fantastic.

“The boys are all best friends and that’s what it comes down to, we play for each other.” Perhaps fittingly, it was the coach who took the Swans to their last title in 2000 who again delivered for the Wises Road faithful. After returning to the team this year, Brett Winkler helped the Swans re-emerge as local footy’s top dog.

The small town of Inglewood and their A Grade Team the Inglewood Roosters are still celebrating after a dominate 44/10 win against the Tenterfield Tigers in the Border Rugby League

Image: Courtesy Richard Goldsworthy

MAROOCHYDORE/COOLUM RUGBY LEAGUE A GRADE TEAM – SUNSHINE COAST/GYMPIE PREMIERS 2016 (L-R) Nate Taber, Warrick Maher, Tom Royal, Luke Williamson, Michael Bauer, Brad Kent, Sam Madden, Tyler Oxenham, Luke Mendham, Troy Mendham, Bart Hold, Joey Meninga, Luke Barton, Luke Roberts, Jason Wardrop, Josh Buckland (c), Murray Goldsworthy (c) – coached by Brett Winkler

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INGLEWOOD ROOSTERS RLFC â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2016 BORDER A GRADE PREMIERS BACK (L-R): Owen Osborne (Manager), Zack Johnstone, Jake Charles, Brent Bennett, Brant Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Dea, Rowan West, Warren Gage, Daniel Bosnjak, Jarrod West, Jamie Meddings, Tim West, Shane Hooper, Tyler Wolff (Trainer), Will Poulos, Luke Willett FRONT: Steve Sauverain, Robbie Morris, Zack Knox, Brandon Sauverain, Joey Frey, Brent Osborne (Capt/Coach), Ryan Donovan (President), Matt West, Nash Killen, Jamie Braden (Asst Coach), Aaron Perry (Trainer)

Grand Final on Sunday the 4th September. The Inglewood Roosters won the BRL major semi-final against their grand final opponents the Tenterfield Tigers, in Tenterfield, to earn the right to host the BRL Grand Final at Inglewood. After a brief hiatus of two years without a senior team in the BRL Competition, it was great to see rugby league return to the town of Inglewood. The club has a proud history in the BRL having now won three premierships in the past six years.

The Inglewood Roosters big forwards came out firing early to set a platform for their speedy outside backs and were able to build a lead of 22/0 at the break.

The Tigers came out after halftime and tried to get back in the contest and scored a great try through Josh Lucas to bridge the gap early in the second half. Despite the Tigers trying valiantly to get back into the contest, the Inglewood Roosters forwards again took control of the middle of the park and

continued to attack the Tigers try line, eventually coming away with a dominate 44/10 win. Best for Inglewood Roosters were Jamie Meddings, Brandon Sauverain, Tim West, Brent Bennett and Shane Hooper, while James Springborg, Josh Lucas, Jarrod McIntosh and Marc McGrady tried all day for the Tigers.

Winton Devils have won the last six premierships in the Central West Rugby League and in 2016 they hosted the Grand Final at home against the Ilfracombe Scorpions who have played Winton in five of the last six years and been unsuccessful. In front of the good sized local crowd, 2016 finished differently from previous years. Ilfracombe came out firing in the first half and Winton had no answer to their sparkling attack with the halftime score favouring the visitors 22/6. The Winton Devils showed they meant business in the second half and were not going to go down without a fight. The first ten minutes of the second half the Devils continually hammered the Scorpions line and were able to get an early try. The defence from both teams in the second half was relentless with neither team willing to have their line crossed. Ilfracombe put on two late tries to seal the victory, running out winners 30/12 and to take their first ever Central West Premiership.

Image: Courtesy Peter Rafter (QRL)

ILFRACOMBE SCORPIONS RLFC 2016 CENTRAL WEST A GRADE PREMIERS BACK (L-R): Mitchell Neuendorf, Matt Hunter, Kurt Lacey, Clinton Hayward, Todd Gadd, Keith Lacey, James Batt, Liam Thurect, Joel Henney, Mitchell Anderson MIDDLE: Trent Thomas, Jake Callaghan, Brett Knickel, Robert Johnstone, Tommy Elliott, Blake Williamson, Courtney Hoad FRONT: Roger Batt, Kora Hoad, Trent Hoad

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Emerald Tigers Rugby League Club – A Grade Premiers Central Highlands 2016 Image: Courtesy Emerald Tigers

Emerald Tigers are the Champions of Central Highlands Rugby League in both men’s and women’s competitions for 2016 after two great Grand Finals.

In the Ladies Grand Final the Tigers won 18/12 after leading 14/4 at halftime.

The Clermont Bears played well but made crucial mistakes that cost them dearly in the opening half with Casey Watkins scoring in the opening minutes to set the tone for the night.

The Bears Australian player, Tegan Rolfe scored to equalise but Kelsie Parter, playing fullback, scored to give the Tigers a handy 8/4 lead. Minutes later, Stacey Kirkman barged over from ten metres out to extend the Tiger’s lead to 14/4. In the second half, Rolfe passed to Carly Bell and broke through two tacklers to score and reduce the deficit to just a converted try the difference but once again the Tigers came back with Kiri Samson going over to take the score to 18/8 in the closing stages. Rolfe was again involved in the last Clermont play of the evening when she combined with Rachael Simpson to narrow the gap to 18/12 which was the full time score.

The Player of the Final was Miesha Huet.

The men’s final was stirring stuff with the Middlemount Panthers leading 10/0 midway through the first half through tries to Sam Creedon and Joel Duffy but just before the interval Jason King went in to narrow the gap to 10/6. The middle of the paddock was no place for the faint-hearted as both sets of forwards tried to dominate and the Panthers extended their lead to 14/6 with a Mitch Wyatte try. The Tigers never say die attitude saw them claw back into the game with Rigby and Darby prominent while the little guys in Gavin Power and Darcy Hardness were everywhere. The Tigers fullback, Jason King went over for his second try and the game was anybody’s for the winning at 14/12 to the Panthers.

The Panthers seemed to wilt under the relentless pressure of the Emerald team and Matt Langby worked some magic from dummy half to create scoring options for Justin Cavanagh and Issiah Huet to give the Tigers a handy 22/14 lead in the last minute of the game. The best for the Tigers were Issiah Huet, Kyle Mattingley, Matt Langby and Jason King while Will Davidson and Alex Sainsbury played well for the Panthers.

The Northern Districts Grand Final was played at ‘Marlins Park’, Agnes Waters on the 28th August. The weather was at its best for the big day and congratulations to the Agnes Water “Marlins” club for their efforts hosting the event this year.

This year the day took on a carnival atmosphere with mechanizing stalls, face painting and even an artist painting a scene from the game.

Both the Avondale “Tigers” and Gin Gin “Hawks” had firm belief the trophy would be in their possession at the end of the game. The game kicked off with both teams muscling up their defence and the arm wrestle held for some time before Gin Gin winger Thomas Strahan broke the deadlock. The try was converted and the Hawks held the lead until just before halftime when “Tigers” winger David Nathan Jones crossed in the corner. The Tigers failed to convert and both teams went to the break at 6/4.

After the break the wrestle continued for the next 10 minutes before the Tigers crossed under the posts through centre Matt Ross.

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Image: Courtesy Redfern Sports Photography

AVONDALE TIGERS RLFC – NORTHERN DISTRICTS A GRADE PREMIERS 2016 FRONT (L-R): Samuela Moala Jnr, Braydon, Graham, Shane Kemp, Craig Bek, Matt Ross, Luke Owen (Capt/Coach), Nathan Jones, Brendan Prossliner, Nathan Leather, Daniel Steemson BACK: Adam Goldsworthy, Tevita Naulangi, Anthony Dunphy, Leigh Eade, Tevita Fatanatavake, Sean Allen, Amy Maidment (Tiger), Todd Tronc, Riley Webb, Gavin Lovejoy, Frank Primavera, Sam Wylie, Pila Tufulele, Luke Mason

Injuries and fatigue then started to take effect on the Hawks, losing their fullback with the halfback carrying an injury, the game started to drift from the gallant Hawks. Further tries to the Tigers through Dan Steemson, Matt Ross and Nathan Leather closed the Grand Final at 26/6. The Player of the Final was Avondale’s Adam Goldsworthy.

The 2015 premiers Chinchilla Bulldogs surrendered their title to the Roma Cities Gladiators 34/10 in front of a big crowd in Roma.

The Gladiators finished the season with the minor premiership on 34 points in front of St George, Chinchilla and the Red Bulls.

Chinchilla had beaten Roma 22/20 in the major semi-final and were the first team into the Grand Final but the signs were ominous when the Gladiators took their spot with a 68/4 thumping of St George in the preliminary final. With star senior captain Matt Waites (Roma and District Player of the Year) leading the charge, the Gladiators finished their sets and pushed their advantage during the first half, finishing 16/6 at 52

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the interval before going on with the job in the second half.

The Bulldogs who had won the title in 2014 and 2015 tried valiantly in the second session but several key penalties took the momentum out of their attack. For Roma Cities Chris Ghellar (2), Billy Coonan, Tom Barton, Matt Waites and Braden Collins scores tries with Shannon Irwin (4) and Billy Coonan kicking goals while Joe Peters and Anthony Horswood scored for Chinchilla with Jeff Gilbert kicking a goal.

Despite the setback for Chinchilla, Bulldogs captain Mark Lingard said he was proud of their efforts through what was a tough rivalry with the Gladiators.

“At the end of the day we were outplayed” he said.

Roma finished the season on a high, fielding three teams in the Grand Finals with their reserve grade winning 12/10 against the Red Bulls and the Under 18’s going down 22/18 to Mitchell.

The Under 16 Grand Final was won by Chinchilla who defeated the Red Bulls 24/20. Player of the Year Awards for the Roma District went to Matt Waites (Roma Cities A Grade), Brian Argus (Miles/Taroom Reserve Grade), Ollie Peak (Mitchell Under 18) and Kade Tennyson (Chinchilla Under 16).

THE DANES DIG DEEP IN TOOWOOMBA THE mighty Pittsworth Danes dominated the opening 20 minutes of the second half of the Toowoomba Grand Final to go from 6/4 down at the interval to 18/6 with a three-try blitz against the Warwick Cowboys at the Clive Berghofer Stadium.

The game was played in wet conditions and no place for the faint-hearted as the two packs of forwards tried to assert their authority. It was the Danes first premiership since 2004 although their opponents had not lifted the trophy since 1988. The Toowoomba Competition is one of the strongest in Queensland with eleven clubs in the A Grade ranks. The Warwick Cowboys had won the minor-premiership from Pittsworth, only losing two games for the season. Prior to the semi-finals the finishing order for the clubs was Warwick, Pittsworth, Gatton, Souths, Highfields, Brothers, Dalby, Valleys, Wattles, Goondiwindi and Oakey. Warwick had defeated the Danes late in the season and it was a surprise to some when the Danes were first into the Grand Final with a convincing 32/10 defeat of the minorpremiers after losing to Souths 46/22 in the last round of the competition.

Pittsworth scored first through clever ball playing forward Mitchell Carpenter but in tough conditions the Cowboys came back and scored a converted try on the half time bell to take a narrow 6/4 lead. The game was won in the opening 20 minutes

of the second half when Pittsworth scored tries through Liam Jocumsen, Daniel York and Kurtis Shayler to go to 18/6 before the Cowboys hit back with a try to Joe Fuimaono to narrow the gap to 18/12. The Cowboys thought they had scored a try in the last minute of play but magnificent defence saw the player go into touch. The best for Pittsworth were five-eighth Thomas O’Sullivan who took out the John McDonald Medal for man of the match, Daniel York, Mitchell Carpenter, James Dempsey and Cameron Miller while the best for the Cowboys were Joe Fuimaono, Trent Richardson, Sam Broomhall and fullback Craig Don. Gatton won the Second Division Grand Final with a very convincing 24/0 defeat of Dalby, Valleys won the Under 18 Final by defeating Warwick 20/12 and Gatton won the Reserve Grade with a determined 16/4 defeat of Valleys.

PITTSWORTH DANES RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB – TOOWOOMBA A GRADE PREMIERS 2016 BACK LEFT: Mat Janke (Assistant Coach), Thomas O’Sullivan, Bradley Brosnan, Cameron Millar, Alex Kahler, Conor Derksen, Kurtis Shayler, Braydon Gibbs, Alec Stevens, Jeffrey Webe, Liam Jocumsen, Darb McKinlay (Strapper) FRONT LEFT: Matthew Briggs, Mitchell Carpenter, Daniel York, James Dempsey, Braydon Wilson (behind), Kabunare (Les) Kofe, Adman Cronin, Patrick McDonald, Ian Brackstone (Coach) Images: Courtesy Sharp As Photography

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TOWNSVILLE DOMINATES JUNIORS IS it the water, is it the air or is it great coaching? Townsville won every competition available in 2016 in the grades leading into the senior ranks with Ignatius Park College winning the Confraternity Shield and the Townsville Blackhawks winning the Cyril Connell Cup (Under 16) and Mal Meninga Cup (Under 18) for the second year in a row. In the high profile NYC Cup the Cowboys finished the regular season in second position and then defeated Wests 32/16 in the first semi-final only to go down by the same score to the Penrith Panthers in the major semi-final. We would suggest that things are looking good in the north.

TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS CYRIL CONNELL CUP CHAMPIONS 2016 BACK (L-R): Mitchell Zohn, Kieran Moran, Allan Petersen (Coach), Kallum Delacour, Harrison Leslie, Quinlan Kelly, Ty Everett, McKenzie Baker, Isaac Locke, Grant Wilson (Manager), Dr Ward, Adam Whyte, Mark Winton (First Aid) MIDDLE: Nick Barnes (Trainer), Kelsey Hesp, Marty Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien, Jake Hindom, Jacson Lott, Manfred Babao, Adam Cooke, Darlan Lampton, Clint Amos (Trainer), Kade Banset FRONT: Curtis Dempsey, Mitchell Fogarty, Hamilton Taia

TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS MAL MENINGA CUP CHAMPIONS 2016 BACK (L-R): Dick Walsh (Coach), Dr Rod Ward, Nathan Barrett, Jack Glossop, Kurt Wiltshire, Cody Gibbs, Brett Anderson, Corey Horsburgh, Michael Carroll, Jason Bourke, Sam Savage, Marshall Hudson, Glenn Brock (Trainer), Mark Winton (Manager) KNEELING: Brad Garners (Manager), Julian Christian, Tom McCagh, Duarne Dempsey, Oscar Carter, Jayden Stephens, Emery Pere, Jack Althaus, Roy Baira (Trainer), Campbell Duffy, Hannah Goodwin (First Aid)

Photos: SMP Images

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NORTHERN DIVISION O UT AN D ABO U T

Images: Courtesy Torres Strait Events Raw Productions/Zenadth Kes Rugby League fb page

HIGHLI GHTS OF THE 2016 S E AS O N Terry Abednego from Thursday Island won the National One Community Volunteer of the Year Award for all his work in the Torres Straits across all levels of the game for many years.  Mulga Tigers took out the Zenadth Kes competition on Thursday Island under coach Talli Frank in a 22 to 20 thriller over Suburbs.  Lockhart River Scorpions under coach Wayne Butcher won the Cape Cluster competition for the first time, defeating the Weipa Raiders by 24 to 10 in the final played in Lockhart River.  Injinoo Crocs defeated Alau Eagles 28 to 20 under coach Robbie Yorkson in the reformed Northern Peninsula Rugby League Competition that was for the first time fully self-sufficient and didn’t rely on visiting match officials or QRL Representatives on a weekly basis.  North Queensland United, comprising players from the Cape, Torres Straits and Palm Island, easily defeated Qld Outback, comprising players from Mount Isa and the Mid-West, as well as Central and South West Queensland, by 64 points to 18 in a game played in Townsville before a Blackhawks ISC game.  The QRL Northern Division Mod Camps continued to be a major success with the Townsville camp having 97 campers and the Mackay Mod Camp 73 campers. Thanks once again to Brothers Leagues Club Townsville and the Mackay JRL for their continued support of these camps as well as the NRL and the North Queensland Cowboys.  A number of young North Queensland Referees were given touch judge roles at ISC games and officiated in many of the major junior carnivals across Queensland and performed well.

Image: Courtesy Northern Division

 Finally the QRL Summer Camp at JCU in December 2015 had nearly 200 participants and was another success in its 29th year of existence.

– SCOTT NOSWORTHY (QRL Northern Division)

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THEY PLAYED THE GAME ankle and in 1955 he rejected an offer from St George, the club that would go onto win eleven successive premierships.

Pyers joined his older brother Pat at Murwillumbah Old Boys in 1955 before playing three seasons with Brisbane Easts. Then it was to Mackay where he helped the town to their first ever Foley Shield title in 1959. This was also the scene of the infamous “snake in the scrum” incident.

BACK in the 1970’s into the 1980’s I owned a Tyre Service and Service Station in the Whitsunday area. One day a little bloke with a big grin came into the shop selling cardboard tide-times as a form of advertising. Now the area was very big into fishing and boating so I signed up to buy a few thousand of them and so began my association with PAUL PYERS. Most of my tyrefitters were rugby league players and although I never knew Paul it became obvious that he knew a bit about the game. He loved a laugh and a bet on the horses so he fitted in well with my bunch of desperadoes. Over the next 10 years we continued to do business but when I sold the tyre business I lost track of him.

In October I went to the Men of League Annual Dinner and they had a slide-show of former players who had died during the year and much to my sorrow I saw the name ‘Paul Pyers’.

In 2014 I wrote a history of North Queensland Rugby League titled, “More than the Foley Shield” and during the research up popped a familiar name, “Paul Pyers”. The more I researched and the more questions I asked, the greater the player Paul Pyers became. In 2015 I wrote “A History of the Mackay Rugby League” and you guessed it, Paul Pyers appeared again. Pyers played in an era when the Australian team was dominated by New South Wales to an extent that although we beat the Blues in three of the four inter-state games in 1959 the majority of the Kangaroo touring party came from south of the border. The three names most mentioned as being harshly treated by the Australian selectors were Bobby Banks, Paul Pyers and Don Meehan.

Pyers was a magnificent utility player with blistering pace who could play anywhere from fullback to halfback. He made his interstate debut on the 22nd May 1957 as a winger. In a brief representative career he played nine games against New South Wales and played against the touring Great Britain team in 1958 and New Zealand in 1959. But there was much more to Paul Pyers. A journey-man footballer he played or coached in Sydney with Eastern Suburbs and Parramatta, had stints in Brisbane with Easts and Wynnum-Manly and played and coached in Grafton, Murwillumbah, Mackay, Cairns, Gunnedah and Newcastle. In 1970, at the age of 36, Pyers played fullback in a premiership match for Wynnum-Manly alongside his son, Paul jnr, who was halfback.

Paul Pyers was a very colourful character who often had a run in with authority with his upbringing in South Grafton as exciting as it could possibly be. His father was a country jockey who was banned for life several times for various offences so the young Paul Pyers was wise beyond his years when he commenced his rugby league career. In 1954, Pyers was signed by Sydney Eastern Suburbs and made a big impression before breaking an

Pyers had purchased a five-foot (1.5m) rubber snake while in Sydney with the Queensland team, but had told nobody. “It looked so real, I thought I’d have a bit of fun with it,” he said. “We were playing Townsville and I stuffed the snake up my jersey before the game and told our halfback to go to the wing for the first scrum because I was going to feed the ball. When the first scrum went down, I threw the bloody snake in the middle of the tunnel. “Somebody screamed ‘snake’ and everyone bolted except the Mackay hooker who was a real bushie. He slammed his boot on the snake’s head as everyone else bolted. When they realised what was happening, they all died laughing.”

The rugby league community and the world in general needs characters like Paul Pyers. He never played for Australia in rugby league but he made the First XIII when it came to rugby league memories. Rest in Peace Paul Pyers.

I was in Townsville in the mid 1970’s and saw the awesome array of talent that was the Townsville Under 17 and Under 19 teams. Players like Colin Scott, Gene Miles, Marshall Colwell, Alan Kilcullen, Zac Sarra, Tony Kambouris, Pat Phelan and Greg Dowling dominated the competition but the star of the show was their mister-magic TERRY BUTLER. Butler played half-back or five-eighth and was always selected in Townsville and North Queensland representative teams of the day.

In 1979 he was signed by Brisbane Brothers but returned to North Queensland for the 1980 season where he played for Mount Isa. Following the trials in early 1980 he was selected to play five-eighth in the North Queensland team for the Country Trials where he was spotted and signed by Wynnum Manly for the 1981 season. The Seagulls of 1981 were in a rebuilding phase that included a lot of former North Queensland players including Colin Scott, Gene Miles, Butler, Wayne Bulloch and Greg Dowling. Wynnum made the semi-finals in 1981 but never made the grand final.

In 1982 Wynnum Manly surged to their maiden premiership with their North Queensland connection all prominent. The Seagulls had to wait 31 years for premiership success, beating LEAGUEQUEENSLAND.COM.AU

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Souths 17/3 in front of 36,000 people at Lang Park. The Seagulls side, coached by Des Morris, included future Origin stars Gene Miles, Terry Butler, Ian French, Greg Dowling and Rod Morris.

Butler, by now a winger scored the first try in the club’s maiden grand final win. 1983 was a great personal season for Butler as he was selected to tour New Guinea with the Queensland team and then bought into the Queensland Origin team for the second game of the series.

By the start of the 1984 season Wynnum-Manly, Redcliffe and Souths were full of International and State players but many regard the 1984 Wynnum team as the greatest Brisbane Rugby League club team of all time. Such was the strength of the competition the Australian team who defeated Great Britain 3/0 in the test series had seven resident Queenslanders including Wynnum’s Wally Lewis (captain), Gene Miles and Greg Dowling. The Seagulls totally destroyed a good Brisbane Souths team with a 42/8 demolition and Terry Butler was there again weaving his magic.

Butler played the 1985 season for Wynnum and once again they played Souths in the Grand Final with the Magpies exacting revenge in a tight encounter. In 1986 Terry Butler signed with the North Sydney Bears but had limited opportunities in a disjointed season.

IAN “WILLIE” WILLIAMS a Hervey Bay Seagull to a four time Mt Isa Foley Shield Final winner...1977-78-79-81. The Seagulls Club would like to pay tribute to Ian “Willie” Williams, a favourite son.

IAN “Willie” “will-o-the-wisp” WILLIAMS............ an original Seagull in 1973 through to 1976, was a member of the Seagulls very first “A” Grade premiership winning team in 1974 and a team member in the ‘76 Grand Final. Following his time as a Seagull, Williams found his way to the home of the Mighty Miner’s in the wild western town of Mt. Isa. “Willie” was quick to find his Rugby League home for the 77’ and future season’s at the Wanderers Club which was also home to the legendary North Queenslander Vern Daisy. “Willie” was quick to settle in and soon became an integral part of the team which went on to win the Premiership in that year.

Come mid-season Willie’s form was good enough to force his way into the Isa’s tough representative Foley Shield team as fullback, a position vacated by Daisy’s brother Frank, who had moved on to play in the Burdekin district. The Mighty Miners went on to make the Foley Shield Final and win the game against Innisfail 18/16. Some of Willie’s teammates were legends in Noah Savuro, Peter Schiavo, Dennis Yamaguchi, Paul Laffin,

John Grew, Arthur Fein (Nathan’s father), Will Caldwell, Billy Bawden, and Sugar Carr. Innisfail’s side was also choc-a-block with league identities, namely a 17-year-old Kerry Boustead, Doug Tanna, Neil Appo, Dave Herbert, John McCabe, and Barry Denman to name a few.

In 78’ “Willie” moved to the centre’s in the Foley Shield team after the return of North Queensland fullback Frank Daisy, the Miners again found their way to the final against Mackay and retained the Shield in a close finish 15/12. Come ‘79 the Miners again tracked their way to the final for the 3rd year running and would take on Townsville in their quest to win the coveted Shield once again. Willie would again fill his favourite centre position where his opposite was to be the future Bronco and International centre big Gene Miles, and yes the Isa boy’s were to win again 26/6. The Townsville side also contained soon to be Origin player and International Fullback Colin Scott, Queensland forwards Chris Phelan and Marshall Colwell along with name players such as Robbie Deemal, Jim Heery, Pat Hannan and Tony Kambouris. The Isa team also had a few new additions, in the rugged Ronnie Slater (father of Billy), big George Radeck, who went onto represent Queensland in 1980, Steve Tolhurst and Greg Trackson.

Roll onto 1981 and Willie yet again is one of the Miner centre’s and will play in his 4th Foley Shield final against his ‘77 opponents Innisfail, the mighty men from the Isa again walked off winners 13/9. After such a successful period of time in club footy and the representative scene winning 4 from 4 Foley Shield Finals, an extremely rare feat in such a tough arena, it was time for the Will-o’–the-Wisp ...Ian “Willie” Williams to start winding down his footy career and eventually return to the home of the Seagulls Hervey Bay. Upon his return to the Bay “Willie” had to pull on the Red and Green colors just one more time to play a number of games before retiring from the field, thanks for the footy memories. I was also lucky enough to have spent a couple of years in Mt. Isa myself when “Willie” was there, having known him previously in the Bay it was extra special in watching his statue grow in the Isa. The Isa held their Foley Shield stars in such high regard that I can remember being at the airport one night with around 250 or more supporter’s fare-welling the team as they boarded their flight to Townsville for the 1979 final. The Will-o-the-wisp Ian Williams, one of the most humble and gentlest of men that one could ever hope to meet, Willie, forever fly high.

– CONTRIBUTED BY DAVID YARROW

THREE FOLEY SHIELDS IN SUCCESSION FOR THE MIGHTY MOUNT ISA MINERS STANDING (L-R): Noah Savuro, John Grew, Greg Trackson (12), Mark La Pla (14), Pau Kisi, George Radeck, Peter Schiavo, Steve Bax, Billy Sewter, Chicka Miller, Frank Daisy FRONT: Arthur Fein, Paul Laffin, Ian Williams, Steve Tolhurst (6), Ronnie Slater, Vern Daisy Image: Courtesy Mel Brosnan

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