Father and son Mick and Flynn Purkis fulfilled a dream by playing together for the first time in Wests Panthers’ 20-16 victory over Easts Magpies in the Rugby League Bundaberg Broadcasters Reserve Grade Premiership on Saturday.
Mick, who came out of retirement after almost a decade specifically to team up with 17-year-old Flynn on the field, was a run-on front rower, while powerhouse forward Flynn came off the bench and chipped in with a goal.
Flynn was backing up after having a whale of a game, including scoring a try, in the Panthers’ 26-12 win over Past Brothers in Under-18.
Four Wests Panthers A Grade stars will be part of the Frank Fisher Invitation side which will play the Queensland Police at Murgon Showgrounds tomorrow afternoon, Jensen Deamer, Marcus and Josh Tanner, and Caleb Tull.
The team is: Jensen Deamer, Marcus Tanner, Josh Tanner, Caleb Tull, Paddy Alberts (Burnett), Daron Bligh (Burnett), Peter Langton (Burnett), Bronson Fogarty (Burnett), Norman Wragge (Burnett), Travis Field (Rocky), Reuban Hamson (Rocky), Jett Hill (Rocky), Coby Fechner (Roma), Ollie Peak (Roma), Barwoo Fisher (Sunny Coast), Seaton Reed (Sunny Coast), Vincent Law (Sunny Coast), Brodie Sharman (Sunny Coast), Nathan Gaulton (Toowoomba), Josh Stanton (Toowoomba). Coach: Justin Brown, Manager: Gary Halliday.
To accommodate for the players involved in that match, Wests Panthers’ A and Reserve Grade clashes with Past Brothers have been scheduled for Sunday at 3.30pm and 2pm respectively after Brothers meet Hervey Bay in under-18 at 12.30pm.
The Panthers have won four of their five matches, including a first-round 46-22 blitz of Brothers, who have just two wins to their credit and will be keen to redeem themselves after being embarrassed by Waves Tigers 46-18 last Saturday.
All other matches of the round are tomorrow, with Hervey Bay Seagulls, who will still be without their suspended representative stars Logona Vetemotu and Jeremiah Pati, to host Waves, who are coming off their first win of the season, at Stafford Park at 5pm after the Reserve Grade clash between the two clubs at 3.30pm.
The Tigers will be missing one of their best in their former North Queensland Cowboys National Youth Cup representative back Cody Maughan, who notched a double against the Brethren.
At Eskdale Park Maryborough, Wallaroos will host Wests in U18, and Easts in Reserve and A Grade, with, in top grade at 5pm, Roos chasing a hat-trick of wins against a Magpies side which will be aiming to bounce back after two straight defeats.
In the Northern Districts, hosts Miriam Vales Magpies will be hungry to open their account in their bottom of the table tussle with Avondale Tigers at Gary Larson Oval at 4.15pm after unbeaten leaders South Kolan Sharks tackle Gin Gin Hawks in a top two shoot-out at 2.30pm. In the Women’s League Tag, the Hawks will be out to claw Avondale Hornets at 1.15pm.
Netball
Action will be fast and furious with 61 teams from throughout South Queensland to battle it out in the 2021 Bundaberg Netball Representative Carnival at the Superpark Complex this weekend.
The hosts will be well represented in all age divisions, with visiting teams from PRNA, Beaudesert, Caboolture, Capricorn Coast, Curtis Coast, Emerald, Gladstone, Hervey Bay, and Rockhampton.
There are 9 rounds tomorrow, the first at 12.30pm and continuing at 45-minute intervals through to the last at 6.30pm, and a further 8 rounds on Sunday, starting with an Opens clash between Bundaberg and Hervey Bay at 8am, and running through to the final round at 1.45pm.
Last weekend, Bundaberg sides again performed well at the Rockhampton Red Rooster Representative Carnival, with our 12 years outfit placing fourth from 8 teams; the two Rum City 13 years sides Red and Yellow achieving third and eighth respectively in a field of 11; Bundaberg 14 years Red and Yellow claiming third and fifth respectively out of 7 teams; and the 15 years group also taking fourth from 7 teams.
In the local midweek split-round due to the representative program, reigning champions Waves Gold continued to sweep all before them in the Warren Family Homes Division 1 Premiership, outgunning Alloway Blue 55-34, while Waves Blue edged out Natives Magpies 36-30, and Brothers Hurricanes overpowered Fusion Solomons 49-42.
Results from split-round games Wednesday – Division 1: Waves Gold 55 d Alloway Blue 34; Waves Blue 36 d Natives Magpies 30; Brothers Hurricanes 49 d Fusion Solomons 42.
Division 4: Natives Parrots 38 d Alloway Yellow 21’ Brothers Monsoons 46 d Waves Aqua 17.
Division 6: Waves Sapphires 46 d Fusion Precision 25; Waves Silver 37 d Natives Peacocks 31; Alloway Green 45 d Brothers Storm 23.
Division 8: Brothers Whirlwinds 29 d Fusion Dans Elite Auto 14; Brothers Typhoons 28 d Alloway Emeralds 18.
Division 11: Brothers Avalanches 22 d Alloway Lavender 5; Fusion Force 39 d Natives Hawks 5.
Football
With five teams equal on 12 points at the top of the Wide Bay Premier League Men’s ladder, Across The Waves (ATW), United Park Eagles (UPE), Bingera, Brothers-Aston Villa (BAV), and Fraser Flames, and sixth placed Doon Villa just a further 2 points away, the top four positions could become clear-cut after tomorrow’s round.
Bingera will host ATW at their grounds at 6pm and another titanic duel is expected after the two battled out an epic extra-time draw before Waves prevailed in a penalty shoot-out in the Hitz FM 939 Cup grand final last Monday week.
UPE will be expected to beat ninth placed Sunbury Blues at Martens Oval at 6pm, while BAV will still be smarting from their shock last-start 4-1 torching by Flames when they suit up against eighth placed Granville in Maryborough, and Doon Villa will jostle with Flames in a Fraser Coast local derby.
In the other match at Martens Oval at 6pm, Diggers and SC Corinthians will both be desperate for their first competition points of the season.
There are no Premier League Women’s matches in Bundaberg this weekend, with Bingera, ATW and UPE each fresh from wins last week, travelling for fixtures against KSS Jets in Hervey Bay tonight, Granville (tomorrow), and Tinana (tomorrow) respectively.
AFL
Across The Waves Eagles will be out to turn the tables on their hosts Hervey Bay Bombers when they lock horns in the only Wide Bay Marquis Macadamias Seniors Premiership match of the round tomorrow.
The Eagles’ only two wins in their title defence so far have been against Brothers Bulldogs, and they have lost heavily to both the Hervey Bay sides, including a 48-point drubbing by the Bombers one month ago, and they need to improve greatly if they are to keep in touch with the leaders.
Hockey
An Aitkenhead sibling was among the scorers in Waves Cities’ four of five wins for the Bundaberg round last weekend, all against All Blacks, starting with Sophie, who struck eight times in a 13-0 whitewash in Under-11.
Gabi then bagged one goal in a 9-0 shut-out in U13, before Sam notched one each in a 3-1 triumph in U16 and 5-0 result in Division 1 Men.
Cities will clash with Raiders/Rovers in all grades this weekend, with in Division 1, their women’s showdown at 3.10pm tomorrow at Hinkler Park, and their men’s duel at 5.50pm.
All Blacks will face Arrows/Athletics with their top-grade women’s and men’s battles at 4.30pm and 7.10pm respectively.
Good luck also to the Bundaberg teams which will travel to Maryborough to compete in the Wide Bay Zone Under-13 Boys and Girls Championships this Sunday.
Greyhounds
Buccan owner/trainer Brett Hazelgrove dominated this week’s Bundaberg meeting, taking out a winning double.
He was successful with hot favourite My Movie Star, which had won 6 races at Albion Park since finishing second at his only previous start at Thabeban Park in September, in a 5th Grade, and Cool Change, which made it 5 wins in a row on the track in the Open, his previous local appearance being on October 5.
Three District trainers were also successful on the program, David Raines with Tender Talk, which snapped a 27-race losing streak dating back almost a year to June 16, in a 5th Grade, Lorraine Isles with Talgai Warrior, which returned to the winners’ list for the first time since September 6 last year in the 5th Grade Final, and Paul Burgess with Velocity Tonelli in the Masters 5th Grade.
