Explosive front rower Noah Law was Player of the Final as Shalom College snared a famous victory in the Junior Division of the third annual Brother Rochford Futures Carnival.
Played at the Waves Sports Complex on Sunday, Shalom defeated rugby league powerhouses St Brendan’s College Yeppoon 10-4 in the third epic duel between the two sides in the space of 24 hours.
On the other hand, Shalom’s team in the open division struggled, losing their four Group games on Saturday, each of 15-minute halves.
They went down to Ignatius Park College Townsville 32-0, St Brendan’s 30-4, Ignatius Park 16-0, and St Brendan’s 20-0, and it was left to the North Queensland Cowboys-aligned Ignatius Park to claim the open title for a second time with a 16-10 victory over St Brendan’s.
In the group stage on Saturday, the Shalom Junior side started with a 16-10 victory over Mackay State High, before going down to St Brendan’s 12-6 in a scoreless second half, then bouncing back to down Mackay 22-0, and sealing a 17-16 triumph over St Brendan’s with a Dawson Hess field with six seconds remaining in the late game on Saturday.
Their other Player of the Match awards were shared between captain and blockbusting centre Tom Morcom, Noah Law, powerhouse second rower Jack Schmidt and uncompromising front rower Malachi Solomon.
Coach Nathan Halford said it was a good reward for their dedication to training this year despite all local and Queensland school competitions being cancelled due to Covid-19, after they swept all before them locally before being beaten in the Wide Bay final of the state-wide cup in 2019.
The finals were of 25-minute halves and in an epic duel, Shalom drew first blood with a try to Cooper Black, but St Brendan’s levelled the ledger before the break.
The end-to-end battle continued, and Shalom edged ahead with a try to Tom Morcom with eight minutes to go, although the result hung in the balance until halfback Dawson Hess kicked a penalty in the dying seconds.
Halford said they had learnt their lessons from their first clash with St Brendan’s on Saturday when Tom Morcom scored a signature try in the first minute, but they conceded back-to-back tries leading into half-time.
“We let them in in that game and they overwhelmed us a bit, but we turned it around in the second and third games against them and maintained our intensity for the whole game,” he said.
Halford said other stand-outs over the weekend included five-eighth Ezekiel Monckton, Ethan Brennan, and Dawson Hess.
“But special note must be made of the volume defence we had to do to secure the final – we were down a few players with injuries and concussions, and Zander Evans and the whole bunch in the middle, Toby Kelly and all the forwards, Jack Schmidt and Malachi Solomon, were great, and hooker Dane Zardus did a lot of work in defence too in the middle,” he said.
Barnstorming Ignatius Park second rower Wade Jonson and dynamic St Brendan’s fullback Matthew Hill were the Open Players of the Final.
Cricket
Nine Bundaberg players will represent Wide Bay in the South Queensland Country Open Division 2020 Schaeffer Shield in Toowoomba this weekend.
Captain Chris Duff, Michael Loader, Gavin Scott, Brendan Handley, Tim McIntosh, Mitchell Parsons, Arden Lankowski, Dean Krebs and Nathan van Eekeren, will be joined in the side by Gympie’s Andy Batten (wicket-keeper) and Brycen Mitchell, and Ashley Sippel (South Burnett), with the team coached by Bundaberg’s Simon Gills.
Locally, all teams will miss their representative stars, starting in the Aussie Bundy Big Bash tonight where Headlands Pies will battle it out with Betta Heat at 6.30pm for outright second position.
Tomorrow at Salter Oval, Waves and Norths’ depth will each be tested without their three and two Wide Bay guns respectively, while despite being without captain-coach Arden and Gavin Scott, East Bundy Magpies will still be favoured against the beleaguered Hervey Bay.
In Junior fixtures last week, Norths/Maryborough’s Zac Richters fell an agonizing four runs short of a century, but his superb knock was enough to clinch a 16-run win at the expense of Isis/Easts.
Football
Brothers-Aston Villa proved the benefit of being able to field mostly the same team week-in-week-out by completing the Bundaberg Men’s Championship grand final double recently.
Of their 14 players who lined up in the grand final, three played all 20 games for the season – Cody Tierney, Josh Carson and Casey Smith, while four chalked up 19, including captain Matt Williams, three registered 18, and every other player was in double-figures.
Golden Boot winner Jesse Sommer scored 27 of their 66 goals, while Matt Williams, who was their only other player to finish in the top 10 with six goals, but many others shared in the goal spoils, including grand final scorers, stalwart Chris Norris, Jake Brough and Tom Martin, who slotted just their second, sixth and fourth goals of 2020 respectively.
Speedway
A huge line-up of 104 cars have nominated for the bumper meet at the Autobarn Carina International Speedway this Saturday.
The BWR Machinery Rum City Rumble for Production Sedans will be the head-line act with a field of top drivers including current Australian Champ Joel Berkley and reigning Queensland title holder Chris Pagel.
Spectator entry will be from 2pm, with the Grand parade at 3.15pm, and Racing from 3.30pm.
Karting
Action will also be fast and furious at the Bundaberg Karting Club Day at Dromeside Raceway this Sunday, with 68 nominations received across the program.
Supercar driver Todd Hazelwood will be joining the club on track.
Practice will start from 8am Saturday with racing on Sunday. The canteen will be open from lunch time on both days.
Horse racing
Dalby trainer David Reynolds and jockey Leeanne McCoy will be chasing their third straight Mt Perry Cup victory in the town’s annual five-race meeting tomorrow at their grand old country track.
The town held its first race meeting in 1872 and the club and track have withstood the test of time for 148 years, despite seven-year recesses for World War I (1915-21) and World War II (1940-47).
David and Leanne, who have won the past two Cups with Crafty Aquilla and Rather Salubrious respectively, will team up again tomorrow with Run Pam Run, which has been runner-up to Craiglea Arion at two of her past three starts at Gayndah and Kumbia respectively.
Craiglea Arion, which is trained at Caloundra by Krystle Johnston and will benefit from a 2kg allowance for apprentice Louise Dillon, will again take a power of beating, as will topweight Elusive Element, which won the Bundaberg Cup three starts back on September 5.
Bundaberg will be represented in the event by Tontein, which ran a distant fifth in last year’s Mt Perry Cup, while Bob Murray, of Eidsvold who also has life-long connections with Mt Perry, also has claims with My Certain, which won at Taroom and Gympie before a last-start fourth as favourite behind Craiglea Arion at Kumbia.
Off the track, there will be all the glitz and glamour of the Fashions on the Field, while after the last horse race, there will be plenty of excitement in the popular annual 100m Jocks Plate for the males and 80m Fillies Dash for the females, then live music into the night.
Rugby
Elders Insurance Spring Cup action returns home to Bundaberg tomorrow with two interesting matches with the potent RB Renegades to take on the rampaging Fraser Coast Mariners at 5pm at the Waves Sports Complex.
Then at 7pm, it will be a local derby between West Barbarians, who will be looking to bounce back from their heavy loss to Mariners last Saturday, and former glamour club Turtles Brothers, who have been through a lean patch since their opening round victory over the Barbars.
Basketball
Bundaberg Bulls will complete their ConocoPhillips Central Queensland Cup season when they travel to Gladstone to play Port City Power tomorrow.
Bundaberg’s women’s team the Bears have however wrapped up their campaign on a high with a breakthrough win at home over Rockhampton Cyclones last Saturday.
Softball
United Firesticks will get the chance to join Waves Tsunamis on points when they meet in an A Grade Ladies Bundaberg Local Derby in the Hervey Bay competition at Brothers Sports Club tomorrow at 3.45pm, while Bargara Bullets will travel to the Bay to take on joint-leaders Terrors.
In the A Grade Men’s division, Waves Schooners will do battle with United Heat at Brothers, while at the Bay, it is Misfits against Maryborough, and Bargara Bombers facing a Terrors’ attack.
Netball
After their big win over Natives Eagles last week, Pool A leaders Brothers Hurricanes will face another Natives team in Swans at 5.30pm tomorrow in the sixth round of the Bundaberg Spring Cup.
Waves’ top two sides in the competition, Crushers and Rollers, will suit up against Breakers in an intra-club duel at 7.30pm, and Alloway Red at 6.30pm, respectively.
The first round of matches will get under way at 4.30pm.
Last week’s results – Pool A: Waves Crushers 28 d Waves Rollers 20, Natives Magpies 24 d Waves Breakers 15, Brothers Hurricanes 50 d Natives Eagles 9, Natives Swans 25 drew Brothers Thunder 25, Alloway Blue 36 d Alloway Purple 12, Fusion Solomons 35 d Alloway Red 25.
Pool B: Waves Sunrays 21 d Alloway Yellow 17, Natives Rosellas 25 d Natives Parrots 15.
Pool C: Brothers Twisters 30 d Natives Kookaburras 15, Alloway Orange 11 d Alloway Aqua 9, Waves Angelfish 23 d Alloway Maroon 9.
Pool D: Brothers Storm 27 d Fusion Ocrete 17, Waves Coasters 29 d Natives Peacocks 19, Alloway Green 28 d Brothers Typhoons 21.
Pool E: Natives Galahs 21 d Brothers Blizzards 4, Natives Firebirds 24 d Waves Seaturtles 3, Natives Falcons 24 d Waves Sunfish 14.
Pool F: Fusion Force 12 drew Brothers Earthquakes 12, Natives Kingfishers 14 d Alloway Lavender 6, Fusion Dans Elite Auto 15 d Waves Seashells 1.
Greyhounds
Bundaberg trainer Paul Burgess had a big day out at this week’s meeting at Thabeban Park, claiming a treble with track debutant Stop It Bella and former Victorian Jabril Bale in Maidens, and the consistent Wildash Macie in the Mixed 3rd/4th Grade.
Gin Gin’s Ron Brook also had a good afternoon, taking out the quinella in the Novice Non Penalty with the also honest For the Judge and Black Draft, and the 550m Fifth Grade with Not Scared, which made it back-to-back wins.
Dalma trainer Ken Boody also picked up a double with Everest (460m 5th Grade) and Dig Deep (Mixed 4th/5th Grade).
One other local trainer was also among the winners, David Raines with Magic Sue, which saluted the judge for the second week in a row in a 460m 5th Grade.
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