The return of electrifying five-eighth Caleb Tull and having vintage veterans and brothers Dan and Josh Tanner playing in tandem for the first time in five matches was pivotal to the Wests Panthers win last weekend.
The team got back on track in the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership with a 20-12 victory over a brave Past Brothers on a cold and wet afternoon at Salter Oval on Saturday.
The Panthers had lost three of their previous four matches, and they were forced to dig deep after the depleted premiers led 12-6 at half-time and kept competing strongly throughout.
Wests scored an unanswered 14 points in the second half to notch their third triumph against their arch-rivals in three clashes this season, to also remain within three points of leaders Easts Magpies with four rounds to go.
The Magpies however continued on their winning ways, posting their sixth straight victory with a 22-6 dispatch of hosts Wallaroos at Eskdale Park Maryborough, while in the late match at Salter Oval, Waves Tigers struck a crucial blow in the race for a finals berth, moving to outright fifth position, two points clear of Wallaroos, with a hard-fought 22-12 triumph over Hervey Bay Seagulls.
East were again clinical on Saturday, securing the two points with doubles to their two former BRL Leading Try Scorer Award winners, wing flyer Billy Stefaniuk and powerhouse centre Trent Seeds, and a try to their current BRL A Grade Player of the Year Matt Craven, who increased his lead in this year’s Leading Try Scorer.
Waves made it back-to-back wins with fullback Layton Chambers a match winner, continuing his superb form with 10 points from one try and three goals in a signature robust all-round display.
In the Northern Districts League, Folau Latu notched a double as confirmed minor premiers and hosts South Kolan Sharks mauled Gin Gin Hawks 52-12 in their top-of-the-table showdown on Sunday.
Two-times defending premiers Avondale Tigers kept Miriam Vale Magpies winless with a 38 -10 win over them.
In the Women’s League Tag, Mikayla and Georgia Haupt ran amok with four and three tries respectively as the Tigers terrorized Hornets 50-8 in the all-Avondale affair.
AFL
Inspirational Captain Jason Bethune and young gun Tim Dart kicked three goals each as reigning champions and hosts Across The Waves Eagles moved into outright second place on the Wide Bay Marquis Macadamias Seniors Premiership ladder at the expense of 2019 victors and 2020 grand finalists Bay Power with a second win in a row over them at Frank Coulthard Oval on Saturday.
The Eagles, who started their flag defence slowly but are starting to hit their straps, led by just one point at quarter-time, but gradually increased their advantage by the long break and three-quarter time, but the Power had the best of the last term, ultimately going down 7.8 (50) to 4.6 (30).
Waves remain 16 points behind the unbeaten Hervey Bay Bombers, who powered on with a 14.11 (95) to 1.0 (6) demolition of their hapless hosts Brothers Bulldogs.
FOOTBALL
Across The Waves (ATW) and Fraser Flames maintained their position as co-leaders on the Wide Bay Premier League Men’s ladder with skinny wins on Saturday against KSS Jets 2-0 in Hervey Bay and equal-last Diggers 2-1 at Martens Oval, respectively.
But Brothers-Aston Villa (BAV) slipped from third to fifth with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of United Park Eagles (UPE), who moved into third spot, with Bingera climbing into fourth with a 6-1 home blitz of Granville, with Gary O’Donnell leading the charge with a hat-trick of goals.
In the Premier League Women’s Division, UPE edged out leaders Sunbury Blues 2-1 to get to within four points of them on the table, while ATW reclaimed fourth berth with a 4-0 shut-out of cellar dwellers Tinana.
HOCKEY
Martin Green and his father Paul were both in the thick of things as Arrows/Athletics continued four-times defending premiers All Blacks’ woes with a 4-1 win over them in their Bundaberg Division 1 Men’s clash at Hinkler Park on Saturday.
Martin notched a double, while Paul was also on target, firing in one goal.
It was a red-letter weekend for Arrows all round, also beating the Blacks in all five other divisions, 1-0 in Division 1 Women, 1-0 in Division 2 Women, 4-1 in Under-16, 6-0 in Under-13, and 5-0 in UNder-11.
Unbeaten Division 1 Women’s Premiers Waves Cities were held to a 1-all draw by Raiders/Rovers.
Here are all the scores:
AFL WIDE BAY
MARQUIS MACADAMIAS SENIORS PREMIERSHIP
Hervey Bay Bombers 3.2, 6.7, 8.10, 14.11 (95) d Brothers Bulldogs 0.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0 (6)
HERVEY BAY BOMBERS – Goal Kickers: L. Woodhams 5, D. Rowe 2, L. Hodgetts 2, J. Darby, J. Challies, J. Hickey, B. Holland, C. Issa. Best Players: J. Simms, J. Andrew, L. Woodhams, D. Rowe, C. Issa, O. Smith
BROTHERS BULLDOGS – Goal Kickers: Griffin Webb
Across The Waves 1.2, 3.3, 5.4, 7.8 (50) d Bay Power 1.1, 1.4, 1.6, 4.6 (30)
ACROSS THE WAVES – Goal Kickers: Tim Dart 3, Jason Bethune 3, Damian McRae. Best Players: Dean Nelson, Jayden Welsh, Cody Woodrow, Dan Baker, Tom Laycock, Jason Bethune
BAY POWER – Goal Kickers: D. Alexander, J. Rivett, M. Walsh, J. Wheeler. Best Players: D. Alexander, S. Dyson, J. Stothard, J. Wheeler, M. Saunders, J. Agius
RESERVES
Hervey Bay Bombers 2.4, 7.7, 12.9, 18.13 (121) d Brothers Bulldogs 0.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 (9)
HERVEY BAY BOMBERS – Goal Kickers: Phillip Eisel 9, K. Hare 4, J. Wagner 2, J. Johnstone 2, T. Feben
BROTHERS BULLDOGS – Goal Kickers: Anthony Garland. Best Players: Anthony Garland, Andrew Wattie, Matthew Wattie, Brad Barth, Josh Wilkinson, Joel Anderson
Across The Waves Bundaberg 1.2, 3.4, 5.5, 7.7 (49) d Maryborough 1.0, 1.0, 3.0, 3.1 (19).
UNDER-14
HERVEY BAY BOMBERS 8.5 (53) d BAY POWER 4.4 (28).
ACROSS THE WAVES 8.6 (54) d BROTHERS BULLDOGS 5.2 (32).
UNDER-12
BROTHERS BULLDOGS 11.14 (66) d ACROSS THE WAVES 1.0 (6).
BAY POWER 10.5 (65) d HERVEY BAY BOMBERS BLACK 4.5 (29).
FOOTBALL WIDE BAY
PREMIER LEAGUE MEN
BINGERA 6 (Gary O’Donnell 3, Shane Youngberry 2, Robert Cull) d GRANVILLE 1 (J Bulmer).
ATW 2 (Bryce Hibberd, Sam Meyer) d KSS JETS 0
UPE 3 (Lynton Seary, Josh Adcock, Luke Darcy) d BAV 0.
SUNBURY BLUES 3 (B Gempton, A Mollee, H Coe) d SC CORINTHIANS 1 (Jarman Grigg).
FRASER FLAMES 2 (B Wright, J Sams) d DIGGERS 1 (Travis Price).
PREMIER LEAGUE WOMEN
UPE 2 (Lucy Hamilton) d SUNBURY BLUES 1
ATW 4 (Nicola Land 2, Kate Sobczak, Zoe Sobczak) d TINANA 0.
RESERVES MEN
BINGERA 13 (Patrick McMahon 5, Andrew Donnison 3, Parker Miller, Henry Brophy, Brendan Conquest, Oliver Georgeson, Matthew Kirby) d GRANVILLE 0.
ATW 2 d KSS JETS 1 (G Barlogie).
UPE 2 (Finlay Bath, Jayden Pym) d BARGARA 1.
SC CORINTHIANS 6 (Jett Slater, Josh Timbrell, Craig Brown, 2 own goals) d SUNBURY BLUES 3.
FRASER FLAMES 5 (A Webb 4, J Lakin) d DIGGERS 1 (Rhys Vollmerhause).
UNITED WARRIORS 3 d DOON VILLA 3.
NORTH DIVISION 1 MEN
UPE RED 3 (Ethan Maas 3) d BINGERA 1 (Craig Wilson).
UPE GREEN 3 d BAV 2 (Jesse Sommer, Josh Carson).
ATW 5 d BARGARA 4 (Bartholomew Land, Kamal Khatri, Shannon McLain).
SC CORINTHIANS 6 (Craig Brown 3, Callan Hall, Dean Nixon, Jett Slater) d GIN GIN 0.
NORTH DIVISION 1 WOMEN
DIGGERS 6 (Heidi Walk 2, Leah Herbert, Kelsie Havers, Melissa Williams, Chenae Watson) d ATW MASTERS 1 (Kate Sobczak).
HOCKEY BUNDABERG
U11s
Arrows Athletics 5 (Eddie Rayner 2, Hamish Cook 3) defeated All Blacks 0
Raiders Rovers 4 (Stella Dwyer 1, Elena Crow 1, Silvana Silvestro 2) defeated Waves Cities 0
U13s
Arrows Athletics 6 (Ethan Kenny 1, Bridie Stehbens 1, Harlan Bignell 1, Tully Dorgan 2) defeated All Blacks 0
Waves Cities 15 (Connor Castelli 2, Ava McCaig 2, Marshall Eason 5, Gabi Aitkenhead 6) defeated Raiders Rovers 0
U16s
Arrows Athletics 4 (Bridget Stehbens 1, Tully Dorgan 1, River Lee Rayner 1, Hamish Cook 1) defeated All Blacks 1 (Tristan Storm 1)
Division 2 Women
Arrows Athletics 1 (Michelle Wilson 1) defeated All Blacks 0
Waves Cities 2 (Deanne Binder 1, Jessica Asnicar 1) defeated Raiders Rovers 1 (Chantal Baldry 1)
Division 1 Women
Arrows Athletics 1 (Kate Sherwood 1) defeated All Blacks 0
Raiders Rovers 1 (Jasmine Fagg 1) drew with Waves Cities 1 (Angela Asnicar 1)
Division 1 Men
Arrows Athletics 4 (Damon Pegg 1, Paul Green 1, Martin Green 2) defeated All Blacks 1 (Isaac Wales 1)
RUGBY LEAGUE
BUNDABERG
BUNDABERG BROADCASTERS A GRADE PREMIERSHIP
WESTS PANTHERS 20 (Jensen Deamer, Gage Laird, Caleb Tull, Shaun Ezzy tries; Chris Robinson 2 goals) d PAST BROTHERS 12 (Brendan Stewart, Aaron Hall tries; Zak Bainbridge 2 goals).
WAVES TIGERS 22 (Layton Chambers, Tom Dexter, Tukerekere Hikaka, Folau Havili tries; Layton Chambers 3 goals) d HERVEY BAY SEAGULLS 12 (Logona Vetemotu, Dion Bunyan tries; David Woodbridge, Logona Vetemotu goals).
EASTS MAGPIES 22 (Billy Stefaniuk 2, Trent Seeds 2, Matthew Craven tries; Tyrell Howard goal) d WALLAROOS 6 (Brad Gela try; Rigan Nielsen goal).
RESERVE GRADE
PAST BROTHERS 16 (Blake MacKinnon, Mark Handley, Jack Rowan tries; Dylan Harradine-Hall 2 goals) d WESTS PANTHERS 0.
WALLAROOS 20 (Edward Booth 2, Huey Rainbow 2 tries; Kynan Watson 2 goals) d EASTS MAGPIES 16 (Kalisito Gadekiniusiladi, Blake Aplitt, Dylan Taylor tries; Chris Glasson 2 goals).
UNDER-18
WALLAROOS 42 (Jonah MacDonald 3, Joel Cox 3, Bailey Mills tries; Noah Dawson 7 goals) d PAST BROTHERS 4 (Zack Griffith-Lutz).
WESTS PANTHERS 26 (Zander Kerr 2, Brad Clarke, Bryden Blair, Flynn Purkis tries; Zander Kerr 3 goals) d HERVEY BAY SEAGULLS 6 (Jonathon Bill try; Michael Cross goal).
BUNDABERG JUNIOR
UNDER-16
HERVEY BAY d BROTHERS ON FORFEIT.
UNDER-14
HERVEY BAY d WESTS ON FORFEIT.
UNDER-13
WESTS 20 (Isaac Williams 3 tries; Levi Brough 2 goals) d HERVEY BAY 14.
NORTHERN DISTRICTS
MEN
Avondale 38 (Daniel Wendt 1, Jack West-Combo 1, Billy Dau 1, Keith Wuruki 2, Daniel Steemson 2 tries; Brendan Prossliner 4, Mark Wendt 1 goals) d Miriam Vale 10 (Brandon Hornby 1, Maverick Sypher 1 tries; Brandon Hornby 1 goal).
South Kolan 52 (Jackson Brown 1, Darren Broome 2, Monty Chapman Dyne 1, Folau Latu 2, Jake Evans 1, Phillip Lindsay 1, B Ikamanu 1 tries; Andrew Filo 8 goals) d Gin Gin 12 (Viliami Molisi 1, Mitchell Hazzard 1, Josh Robertson 1 tries).
WOMEN’S LEAGUE TAG
Avondale Tigers 50 (Mikayla Haupt 4, Georgia Haupt 3, Natalie Curtis 2 tries; Mikayla Haupt 1, Georgia Haupt 1, Sara Atkinson 5 goals) d Avondale Hornets 8 (B Jane-Wolff 1, Bethany Gapes 1).
