There will be lots of spectacular action when Bundaberg Surf Life Saving (SLS) Club hosts the first round of the Queensland Cup Surf Boat Series at Nielson Park Beach Bargara tomorrow.
Bundaberg’s Wessel Petroleum is a major sponsor of the series.
About 60 crews from Gold Coast through to Bundaberg will compete across nine divisions, Masters, Open Female, Open Male, Reserves Male, Reserves Female, Under-19 Female, Under-19 Male, Under-23 Male and Under-23 Female.
The host club will be represented by one crew, in the reserves male category: Brendan Woods (sweep), Kurt Wessel, Ryan McGregor, Matt Fasso and Mick Parsons.
They will be making a comeback after winning the Series Reserves title when they last competed two years ago.
Brendan, Kurt and Ryan were all members of a club crew, which won the under-21 state and national titles in 2005, together with Nathan Jensen and Shaun Powell, in many famous victories over a stellar couple of years.
Kurt said all races will be run with a “wet start and finish” with a likely three rounds in each division and a maximum of six boats per race going out 300-400m, rounding a buoy and returning to the finish line.
Kurt said they have been training for two months and he will “be surprised if (they) don’t make the final”.
“COVID has dented everyone’s training be we will definitely be very competitive – we are all fit and have all rowed a lot together before,” Kurt said.
Spectators are very welcome. Competition will start at 10am and is expected to run through to mid-afternoon.
Good luck also to all the Bundaberg and Elliott Heads club members who will compete at the SLS North Australian Championships in Mackay this weekend.
Teams – Bundaberg: Lana Grant, Lara Hockey, Lylah Hockey, Myles Holt, Kasey Krueger, Ava McCaig, Mitchell McInnes, Cassidy Parsons, Elizabeth Pascoe, Ben Taylor, Ariana Ulbl, Xavier Ulbl, Gabrielle Vaggs, Liam Vaughan, Amelia Walsh, Thomas Walsh, Drew Woods, Mimi Woods, Summer Woods, Tommy Zunker.
Elliott Heads: Isaac Barrett, Lachlan Barrett, Ryan Bennett, Aidan Berthelsen, Kayla Berthelsen, Aarj Day, Caiden Everingham, Jack Gasto, Casey Giles, Kylie Giles, Stuart Hogben, Craig Holden, Kobi Holden, Laswari Iboro, Malachi Iboro, Rohan McDonald, Max O’Brien, Cohen Palmer, Lucas Powell.
Football
It was a red-letter day for Across The Waves last Saturday, winning three of the four junior grand finals and also triumphing in the Wide Bay (WB) Premier and League 2 semi-finals.
Stars included Nathan Saffioti, who scored a goal each in both their under-12 and under-13 victories, and Heath Hunter and Preston Cox, who both bagged doubles in under-16, while in seniors, Bryce Hibberd bagged a Premier League hat-trick to take his season tally to 19 from 16 games, and Sam Meyer chipped in with a double.
United Park Eagles (UPE) denied Waves a junior clean sweep with their big win over them in under-14 when Kori Pope led the UPE charge with three goals.
There will another football feast at Martens Oval this weekend, with grand finals in all five senior divisions, and in the juniors, there will be Wide Bay Champions Cup games between the Bundaberg and Fraser Coast winners to start tomorrow’s program.
UPE has done brilliantly to qualify for all senior deciders, starting tonight with the Wide Bay Ladies League at 6pm, where they will duel with Bingera, then it is the Bundaberg Ladies League at 6.30pm, with their Black team to meet Bargara, before the Men’s title will be up for grabs against Brothers-Aston Villa at 7.45pm.
Tomorrow, UPE will attempt to ride the Waves in both Wide Bay League finales, with the League 2 at 4.30pm and Premier showpiece at 7pm.
The UPE WB Ladies team is unbeaten in 19 matches, but Villa will be favourites in the Men’s after they finished 13 points ahead of them on the ladder and they again ran hot in the semi-finals to blitz Waves 6-1 with the league’s leading goal-scorer Jesse Sommer bagging another hat-trick.
UPE Black women finished 13 points ahead of their opponents Bargara but the Coastal side will be buoyed by their shock semi-final win over Diggers when Iommi Killen was a match winner, scoring all three goals in a 3-2 triumph.
In the Champions Cup tomorrow, the locals will take on United Warriors (U12 at 9am), Sunbury (U13 at 10am), Fraser Flames (U14 at noon) and Doon Villa (U16 at 2pm).
Tennis
Bundaberg Junior Tennis Association will host the fourth and final round of the Covid Central Queensland Junior Development Series at Rotary and Drinan Parks this weekend with 16 locals and four from Agnes Water in the field of about 40 competitors.
After earlier rounds in Maryborough, Gladstone and Rockhampton, Bundaberg coach and tournament coordinator Kevin Banner said players aged from 10 to 17 will compete in six divisions, based on ability, under the new Universal Tennis Ranking (UTR) format, with overall series winners to be decided in each.
Kevin said Gayndah’s Kody Baker is the one to beat in Division 1, but in the other top divisions, Bundaberg’s Taj Wilson, Riley Jones, Lachlan Campbell, Lachlan Rae and Ethan May, and Dylan Price, of Gladstone, are all also expected to perform well.
Action will start on both days at 8am, running through to about 6pm tomorrow and 1pm Sunday.
Cricket
Reigning premiers Takalvans Taipans will be looking to bounce back from their first up loss to Betta Heat when they take on Headlands Pies in the Aussie Bundy Big Bash at Salter Oval tonight but the Pies will be hot after being run down by Vikings last Friday.
Tomorrow, fresh from their thrilling win in the T20 final last Sunday, Waves will start their Rum City Food Intra Cup title defence when they meet Brothers at Salter Oval, with the Brethren still smarting from a 10-wicket massacre by them in the last T20 round last Saturday.
In the other match, Norths will be hoping to repeat their T20 last-round big win over Hervey Bay when they square off again.
Rugby
West Barbarians will be aiming for four straight wins when they meet Renegades at 5pm tomorrow as the Bundaberg Elders Insurance Spring Cup reaches the half-way point at the Waves Sports Complex.
Then at 7pm, Turtles Brothers will be out to end a three-match losing streak, but it will be tough against reigning premiers Fraser Coast Mariners who really hit their straps in a 58-point demolition of Renegades last Saturday.
Swimming
Fairymead Swimming Club produced four Age champions at the Hervey Bay Long Course Meet on Saturday, Olivia Warmington (14 years girls), Max O’Brien (12 years boys), Indi Bland (11 years girls) and Aarj Day (10 years boys).
Fairymead coach Paul Simms said Indi and Aarj also broke one record each, in 50m backstroke and 200m Individual Medley, while Angus Caldwell also rewrote the record in the boys 10 years 50m backstroke.
“Also, Kasey Krueger, who is only 12, just missed the 13 years national cut in 200m freestyle,” Paul said.
“Also a lot of the younger ones swam really well, including two kids in their first carnivals, Bridget Taylor (10) and Lara Hockey (11), nine-year-old Ethan Giles also went well, along with 10-year-olds Drew Woods (10) and Olivia’s sister Isabella, Max’s brothers Hamish (9) and Lewis (8), and the youngest of the Krueger’s Toni (9).
Young swimmers from throughout the region will converge on Bundaberg Swim Academy for the Junior Dolphins Development Camp with coach Scott Hamlet this weekend.
Netball
Pool A top three sides Brothers Hurricanes, Waves Rollers and Waves Crushers are expected to go on their winning ways when they come up against Alloway Blue, Natives Magpies and Fusion Solomons respectively in the fourth round of the Bundaberg Netball Spring Cup at the Super Park tomorrow.
The first round of games will start at 4.30pm, with subsequent rounds on the hour through to the 7.30pm time slot.
Softball
Both Hervey Bay Softball A Grade Ladies matches tomorrow will be played at Brothers Sports Club with the unbeaten Waves Tsunamis to take on United Firesticks, and Bargara Bullets to face Terrors, both at 2pm.
All three A Grade men’s fixtures will also be at the same venue at 3.45pm, with the high flying Waves Schooners clashing with Terrors, United Heat to warm up against Maryborough, and Bargara Bombers aiming to take down Misfits.
Basketball
Bundaberg Bulls and Bears will have their last away games of the ConocoPhillips Central Queensland Cup season when they shoot hoops against Gladstone Port City Power this Sunday afternoon.
The Power will be backing up after away matches against Rockhampton tomorrow night, and this may be the Bears’ best chance of victory after they were beaten by Gladstone in extra-time in the first round, although they will be without long-serving champion Kylie Giles, who has surf life saving commitments in Mackay.
The Bulls produced by far their best performance of the season to date against last Saturday, but they will have to turn around a 42-point defeat at the hands of the Power three weeks ago.
Greyhounds
Yamanto trainer Peter O’Reilly continued his winning streak at this week’s bumper 10-race meet at Thabeban Park, taking out a double with Hillside Fear (5th Grade) and Shakey Diesel (Best 8).
Meanwhile, Ken Boody, of Dalma, claimed a race-to-race double with Oriental Ollie (4th Grade) and Farmor Watch It (5th Grade Pathway).
Five District trainers each also visited the winners’ circle, Ron Brook with Banjo’s Flame (Maiden), Stephen Bland with Cambla Doll (Novice Non Penalty), Paul Burgess with Wildash Trapper (5th Grade), Ron Hawkshaw with Zuleika (5th Grade), and Narelle Mulcahy with Crakalakin Caity (Masters 5th Grade).
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