Eagles Soar At Junior Carnival

Riley Gale, Lawson Braithwaite and Zachery Harris were the three South Burnett players selected to play in the East team

July 7, 2018

An exciting week of junior rugby league action in Kingaroy was topped off on Friday with the local team, the South Burnett Eagles, tying in top spot.

The Zone 5 U35kg carnival also featured teams from Balonne Barwon, Central Downs, Charleville, Cunnamulla, Macintyre, Roma, Western Downs and Wynnum Manly.

It was hosted by the Kingaroy Red Ants and Murgon Mustangs at T.J. O’Neill Oval.

After five days of football, three teams tied on 14 points: South Burnett, Central Downs and Wynnum.

Allen Christensen, from the Red Ants, said it had been an unbelievable week of football and the standard of the young players had been “out of this world”.

He thanked all the players, trainers, support staff, ball boys and bus drivers – and especially all the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents – for coming along.

“The standard of refereeing was really good. I haven’t heard any complaints from anyone about anything,” Allen said.

He said thousands of hours had gone into organising the event, and singled out the many volunteers who had made the carnival a success.

The 2019 Zone 5 U35kg carnival will be held in Cunnamulla.

Captains of the three teams that tied in first place in the carnival … representing Central Downs, the South Burnett and Wynnum

Players from the three winning teams crowded on to the podium for a group photo with the Carnival Shield

Balonne Barwon players with the runners-up shield

South Burnett Eagles players queue to be presented with their Carnival medallions

The “Best Back”, “Best Forward” and “Most Improved Player” in each team were presented with trophies … the South Burnett Eagles’ trio were Will Webber (Best Back), Archie Pointon (Most Improved) and Riley Gale (Best Forward)

Andrea Steele, from McDonald’s, presented the Athletics Shield to representatives from the Central Downs team; Balonne Barwon were 2nd and Western Downs 3rd

Deputy Mayor Kathy Duff and Andrea Steele handed out the trophies … the South Burnett Regional Council and McDonald’s Kingaroy were the major sponsors of the carnival

Major sponsor Andrea Steele presented the Sportsmanship award to Finnian Clarke, from Charleville, selected from the 135 players taking part in the carnival; the Best Conducted Team was a tie between Cunnamulla and Roma

Lawson Braithwaite (South Burnett) was named Best Back of the Carnival; Best Forward was Jack Cameron (Roma)

The Player of the Carnival was a tie between Daniel Cash, from Wynnum, and Zachery Harris, from South Burnett

The triumphant East combined team hoisted the Jack Dempsey Challenge Cup after the final game of the carnival

* * *

U35kg Carnival – Final Points Tally

• Central Downs – 14
• South Burnett – 14
• Wynnum – 14
• Balonne Barwon – 10
• Roma & Districts – 8
• Western Downs – 6
• Macintyre – 4
• Charleville – 2
• Cunnamulla – 0

* * *

South Burnett Eagles’ Results 

Day 1

• South Burnett def. Roma 30-26
• South Burnett def. McIntyre 42-16

Day 2

• South Burnett def. Balonne Barwon 16-5
• South Burnett def. Western Downs 30-16

Day 3

• Central Downs def. South Burnett 30-18
• South Burnett def. Cunnamulla 36-6

Day 4

• South Burnett def. Charleville 32-6
• South Burnett def. Wynnum 24-12

* * *

East v West Teams

Just a portion of the large crowd of proud parents and supporters who turned out to watch the East v West game

To top off the carnival, players from each team were selected to play an East v West game, the Jack Dempsey Challenge.

League fans should take note of these young players’ names … some of them will probably be popping up in the NRL in just a few years time!

The two squads were made up of:

East

Cooper Murray – Central Downs
Thomas Beresford – Central Downs
Timhana Tandy – Central Downs
Patrick Denny – Central Downs
Curtis Lambers – Macintyre
Lucas Clarke – Macintyre
Connor Lindemayer – Macintyre
Kobe Driscoll – Macintyre
Lawson Braithwaite – South Burnett
Zachery Harris – South Burnett
Riley Gale – South Burnett
Lucas Mann – Wynnum
Locklen McDonnell – Wynnum
Zeke Jones – Wynnum
Mason Fisher – Wynnum

West

Max Page – Roma
Jacob Cox – Roma
Riley Coveney – Roma
Quarn Collis – Cunnamulla
Geoffrey Rynne – Cunnamulla
Jochim Horgan – Cunnamulla
Christopher Neven – Balonne Barwon
Cohan Neven – Balonne Barwon
Riley Tatton – Balonne Barwon
Fraser Lake – Charleville
Campbell Newell – Charleville
Jake Forrest – Charleville
Artie McMillian – Western Downs
Lochlan Fraser – Western Downs
Monty Hindman – Western Downs

* * *

East v West Game

Action from the very close game between East and West which topped off a week of U35kg rugby league

East – which included three South Burnett players – defeated West 18-12 in a very close game to close off the U35kg rugby league carnival.

The game was played in two 15-minute halves with fives minutes for half-time.

East opened the scoring with a try to Cooper Murray which was converted by Lawson Braithwaite.

Four minutes later, East were in again after a cross-field run and a great pass to Thomas Beresford. Curtis Lambert added the extra points.

With less than a minute to half-time, West drew first blood, with Chris Neven forcing a way through the East defence.

West captain Cohan Neven converted the try to take the half-time score to 12-6.

Both sides battled to make headway in the second half, with East finally winning the arm-wrestle at three minutes to go with a try to Zachary Harris. Timhana Tandy successfully converted.

But not to be outdone – and repeating their first-half trick of scoring just before the siren – West’s Riley Coveney scored. Jochim Horgan’s conversion came right on full-time.

Cooper Murray dives over the line to put East’s first points on the board

Thomas Beresford takes a sharp pass to score East’s second try

Legs! A well-timed tackle stops a West’s attacking run on the spot

* * *

• Related article: League Kicks A Goal For Kingaroy

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