May 5, 2015
No senior football was played in the South Burnett last weekend because of the 47th Battalion carnival in Roma but there was an U18s match at Nanango, and an U16s Youth Cup game in Kingaroy.
The 47th Battalion carnival was played over Saturday and Sunday, with Wide Bay North – the team that South Burnett players were selected for – playing twice on Saturday and once on Sunday.
The first game on Saturday morning was against Bundaberg. At half-time, the score was nil-all but then Wide Bay seemed to run out of puff.
The final scoreline was 22-0 against them.
The penalty count also went against them: (17-3) including a reported nine penalties on the fifth tackle.
Bundaberg were the favourites to win the competition, so holding them scoreless for so long – against so much possession – was a massive effort for the Wide Bay players.
In the afternoon, Wide Bay North played South West Country. At half-time in this game, South West were ahead 16-6; the full-time score was 30-10.
South Burnett Rugby League president Greg Pomfret said South West had two young players who were very talented and very quick.
“They were phenomenal to watch,” he said.
One – who was later picked for the Central United squad – scored 22 of South West’s 30 points on his own.
On Sunday, Wide Bay North had an early game against Rockhampton.
At half-time, Rocky led 18-6 and at full-time 42-12.
“In all the games, we just ran out of legs in the last 15 minutes,” Greg said.
The grand final of the competition was between Toowoomba and Bundaberg, who both went through the rounds undefeated. Toowoomba was triumphant 20-16.
“We learned a few lessons, and we certainly are on the right track to get together a good team,” Greg said.
Players from the 47th Battalion competition were picked for the Central United squad that will play in the Queensland championship.
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In Kingaroy, Kingaroy 20 defeated Dalby 10 in an U16s Youth Cup game.
At half-time, Kingaroy led 4-0.
For Kingaroy, tries were scored by Will Kling, James Christensen and Kirby Rubesaame (2); goals were kicked by Bailey Nicholls (2).
For Dalby, tries were scored by Bowdy Welldon and Matt Ryan, and Chris Harwood kicked one conversion.
Dalby suffered badly after giving away a penalty near their own line which saw a player sin-binned for 10 minutes. While he was off, Kingaroy’s Kirby Rubesaame scored twice, with both converted.
The game was much closer than the final scoreline indicated, with only desperate Kingaroy defence keeping Dalby out at times.
* * *
Also in Kingaroy:
- U12 – Kingaroy 14 Wondai 10
U14s – Chinchilla was invited to visit. Two scratch matches were played with some Red Ants assisting Chinchilla:
- Kingaroy 50 Chinchilla 4
- Kingaroy 40 Chinchilla 4
* * *
At Nanango, the Stags had a narrow win, 28-26 over the Murgon Mustangs in U18s.
* * *
Friday night football (May 8)
- 7:00pm – U14 Kingaroy Red Ants Girls v Beerwah
- 7:00pm – U15 Kingaroy Reds Ants v Chinchilla (Youth Cup)
- 8:00pm – U16 Kingaroy Red Ants Girls v Beerwah
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South Burnett trials will be held next Sunday (May 10) for under 43kg players born in 2003-04 (in U12s this year) and under 35kg players born 2005-06 (in U10s) at Wondai at 10:00am.
