April 8, 2013
The South Burnett A Grade rugby league season kicked off on Saturday with games re-scheduled for Wondai following the surprise withdrawal of Kingaroy from the competition earlier in the week.
The double-header, played before a small crowd, produced some exciting football with Blackbutt just holding on to beat Nanango, and the Wondai Wolves defeating 2012 Premiers Cherbourg by one point right on the full-time siren.
* * *
Ashley Smallwood scored the first points for season 2013 when he crossed next to the posts for Blackbutt just minutes after the kick-off.
Andrew Hewitt then converted, the first of six kicks he would land for the Timbertowners.
For the first 20 minutes, Blackbutt capitalised on their possession with Mitchell Olzard scoring twice in nine minutes to take the score to 18-0.
But the Stags weren’t out of the game.
Their standout player on Saturday was again Pat McCallum, who picked up where he left off in 2012.
McCallum put the first points on the board for Nanango with 14 minutes left in the first half. The Stags forced a Blackbutt error close to their line; McCallum crossed from the scrum win and then converted his own try.
Another Blackbutt error – this time kicking the ball out on the full at the restart – set up Nanango for another attacking run. McCallum was again involved, passing to Dion Williams to score.
A few minutes later McCallum was again looking threatening, running down the right side of the field and handling the ball twice in some clever passing movements before Blackbutt defenders pushed him into touch.
Both Blackbutt (Ashley Smallwood) and Nanango (Jake Jackson) scored again before half-time.
At the break, Blackbutt led 24-14.
The Timbertowners resumed strongly. In the first set of six, Blackbutt’s Blake Harvey surprised the Stags by kicking downfield early in the tackle count and then regathering the ball after a long chase to score.
This was then followed by tries to Mitch Olzard (his third for the day) and Will Murray, before Harvey scored again.
With the scoreboard reading 44-14, Blackbutt could be forgiven for thinking the game was in the bag but Pat McCallum had other ideas and there were still 25 minutes left in the half.
As Blackbutt visibly tired, the Stags found new life. Over the next 15 minutes, McCallum scored a hat-trick of tries – and converted two of them – to take the score to 44-28.
With four minutes left, the Stag’s Harvey Gilliland scored and McCallum converted.
There was almost enough time for Nanango to pull off a miracle but the Blackbutt defence held.
McCallum finished the day with four tries and four conversions.
The final score was Blackbutt 44, Nanango 36.
* * *
Cherbourg Hornets went into their match against Wondai as favourites after being dominant throughout last season, but the game turned out to be a see-sawing affair with a cliffhanging finish.
Wondai have inherited some of the Murgon’s best players following the demise of Mustangs’ A Grade team this year, adding some attacking flair to their already strong line-up.
The match opened with a minute’s silence in memory of Wondai resident Tess Kemp who died on March 30, aged 96. Tess and her late husband Tom, after whom the Wondai Clubhouse is named, were stalwarts of the Wolves football club.
Cherbourg looked strong in the opening minutes but failed to turn this pressure into points. Their first touchdown was disallowed after a forward pass and then two minutes later they knocked on over the line. The Hornets would rue these mistakes at the end of the game …
Wondai’s Chris Bond opened the scoring after 10 minutes. The flags were one up and one down on the conversion, so it was ruled no goal.
Cherbourg then took over, scoring three times in 10 minutes with tries to Carl Aubrey, Nathan Gadd and Fred Aubrey; Fred Aubrey converted all three (he finished the day with six goals).
Wondai quickly struck back through Luke Hedges who converted his own try, and then with less than a minute to half-time, Cody Beggs scored the first of his two tries.
At half-time, Cherbourg led 18-14.
After the re-start Cherbourg (Robert Miller) and Wondai (Cody Beggs) swapped tries before Wondai turned on the pressure, crossing the tryline three times to take the lead. Tryscorers were Michael Murray, Shane Cliff and Jameel Sullivan.
With 14 minutes left, Wondai was ahead 36-24 which spurred the Hornets into action.
Carl Aubrey and Bernard Hopkins both scored, and Fred Aubrey converted, to even the score at 36-all with six minutes left.
When Cherbourg next gained possession they manoeuvred the ball to centre field to set up Bernard Hopkins in front for a field goal attempt to break the deadlock. Hopkins was successful and Cherbourg was leading 37-36.
But with three minutes left, a Hornets’ error gave Wondai possession from a scrum win. Cherbourg then gave away a penalty for a tackle infringement in a kickable position.
Wondai’s Joe Sullivan obliged and the ball sailed over the bar with 14 seconds left, giving Wondai a 38-37 victory.
* * *
The news that the Kingaroy Red Ants would not be fielding an A Grade team created some confusion at the weekend.
Not only were some fans still under the impression that there would be games played at T.J. O’Neill Oval in Kingaroy, but the late notice meant that at Wondai there had not been enough time to organise volunteers to run the canteen. A sausage sizzle was held instead.
It also threw the season draw into disarray with only four A Grade teams now left: Cherbourg, Wondai, Nanango and Blackbutt.
Watch this space for news of what games will be played next weekend.
UPDATE April 10, 2013: Saturday’s A Grade games are Cherbourg v Nanango, and Wondai v Blackbutt (at Nanango)
Kingaroy are scheduled to play Wondai at Kingaroy; Nanango will face Murgon at Nanango; and Blackbutt will travel to Mundubbera to play Central Burnett.
In the U16s, Murgon will play Nanango at Nanango; and Cherbourg will head to Mundubbera to play Central Burnett. Kingaroy has the bye.
In the opening round of the Bundaberg Rugby League U18s competition, Murgon will play Past Brothers at 2:00pm on Saturday at Stafford Park in Torquay. There is only one South Burnett team in the U18s competition this year.
