August 31, 2026
Blackbutt fans’ hopes of a fairytale finish to their first season back in the South Burnett Rugby League’s A Grade competition were dashed on Saturday at Murgon Sportsground.
The Timbertowners went down 26-18 to the Murgon Mustangs after a tough Preliminary Final played before an enthusiastic Murgon home crowd.
Murgon were ahead 12-10 at half-time despite Blackbutt dominating possession through much of the half and both sides scoring two tries apiece.
The Mustangs scored first, finally breaking through after a 15-minute struggle when Rowan Gordon dived over the line to score the first of his two tries for the day, converted by Nathan Roderick.
A few minutes later Blackbutt went within centimetres of scoring but the Murgon defence held.
Blackbutt’s James Packer then broke through and Isaac Large’s conversion evened the score at 6-all.
With 10 minutes left in the half, Lachy Zelinksi shrugged off a tackle to score for Murgon, which Roderick again converted.
The Timbertowners struck back via Matthew Mladenovic just before half-time, narrowing the margin to just two points.
Murgon started the second half on fire with two tries in less than five minutes.
Will Webber scored after getting the ball after a high kick, and then Rowan Gordon recorded his second try after Roderick made a break down field.
Just four minutes into the half, Murgon were now ahead 22-10 but Blackbutt were still in it.
With 30 minutes left on the clock, a Murgon player was sent to the bin and Blackbutt were attacking against 12 men.
However, Murgon managed to get the ball, disrupting Blackbutt’s momentum.
Two minutes later, there was a break in play after the referee became ill and was replaced by the official from the earlier Under 14s game.
Blackbutt went back on the attack when play resumed, with one push to the line ruled a no try and then a player held up minutes later.
With less than a half of the half left, Timbertowners’ veteran Blake Harvey scored, narrowing the margin to 22-14.
Just minutes later James Packer took an AFL-style leap to grab the ball out of the air, before twisting to ground it over the line, scoring his second try, slicing Murgon’s lead to 22-18 and putting Blackbutt well and truly back in contention.
But then, with 10 minutes to go, Murgon’s Harry Sippel grabbed the ball against the run of play and charged downfield, putting a Blackbutt victory out of reach, 26-18.
The Mustangs will now face the Kingaroy Red Ants in the Grand Final which, ironically, is scheduled to be played at Blackbutt’s home ground next Saturday afternoon at 2:00pm.
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Under 14s Preliminary Final
Nanango Stags will play the minor premiers Murgon Mustangs in the SBRL’s Under 14s Grand Final after downing Kingaroy 44-4 in the Preliminary Semi-Final played at Murgon Sportsground on Saturday.
The Grand Final will be played from 12:30pm this Saturday (September 4) at Ian “Bunny” Pearce Oval in Blackbutt.
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Bundaberg Women’s Grand Final
The Cherbourg Hornets avenged last year’s Grand Final defeat in the Bundaberg Rugby League’s Women’s Open competition by bringing the trophy home on Saturday.
The Hornettes faced up against Past Brothers in a tough contest, coming out victors 24-20 in Bundaberg.
With just minutes left in the game, the scores were locked at 20-all until captain Sophia Fisher got the ball and took off, scoring the match-winning try.
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South Burnett Eagles
Three South Burnett Eagles teams also came home winners at the weekend.
The Under 15/16 Development Cup boys, playing in the Toowoomba JRL competition, won their Preliminary Final, booking a spot in next week’s Grand Final.
And a big congratulations to the Under 13 Girls and Under 15 Girls, playing in the Bundaberg competition, who won their Grand Finals in Bundaberg on Saturday!
