Excitement machine Jackson Brown put the icing on the Northern Districts Rugby League Most Tries Award with another double to lead the charge as South Kolan Sharks completed a rare unbeaten minor premiership.
The Sharks took out a last-round 54-26 victory over a brave Miriam Vale at Gin Gin on Sunday, meaning the Magpies finished the preliminary rounds without a win.
In the Match of the Day, Gin Gin Hawks ran rampant against a 12-man Avondale Tigers, scoring at more than a point a minute in an 84-6 cakewalk.
Silky skilled centre Justin Johnson also finished with a three-try haul and winger and popular local junior product Connor Boon and interchange ace Rowan Sutton each also featured with doubles.
Jackson Brown was overshadowed by his fellow high-class centre partner Darren Broome on the day, with the 47th Battalion Carnival Merit Team member striking three times.
Jackson however was a run-away winner in the tries tally with 17, 5 more than another team-mate, electrifying fullback Jake Evans, with Darren winding up third with 8, and a fourth Shark, workaholic hooker Corey Gough placing fourth with 7.
Second rower Jake Popp also bagged two tries for Miriam Vale, who with greater numbers in recent weeks have been very competitive against both the Hawks and Sharks, can take some confidence into their minor semi-final showdown with reigning premiers Avondale on Sunday week.
Gin Gin will find it much tougher in their major semi-final against South Kolan, but they will have home ground advantage for that match.
Hawks sharp-shooter Cameron Ross landed 12 conversions to also sign off on the Top Points Scorer gong, lifting his numbers to 118, a massive 38 more than second placed Jackson Brown.
The Hawks however continued their total domination of the Women’s League Tag with a 30-0 triumph over the young Avondale Hornets on Sunday, with Karrie Hills notching a double but falling one short of team-mate Jessica Galea for the Leading Try Scorer, with Jessica adding one to her collection for a total of 13.
Meanwhile, a couple of pieces of the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership puzzle were locked in following Saturday’s Round 13 results, with Easts Magpies claiming the minor premiership with two rounds to go, toughing out a 30-20 victory over a valiant Hervey Bay Seagulls at Salter Oval.
Waves Tigers then took an iron grip on fifth place and the last finals berth and ended Wests Panthers’ quest to be No. 1 with a massive upset over them, prevailing 26-18 with high-class fullback Layton Chambers a match winner with five goals to their fellow Big Cats’ solitary one.
Wests stay in second position and are guaranteed a top-three finish, although they could be edged out for No. 2, depending on results of the last two rounds, as they are now just two points in advance of reigning champions Past Brothers, who shored up third place and sealed a place in the finals with a 38-18 dispatch of their hosts Wallaroos in Maryborough, with Roos now needing a miracle if they are to avoid the wooden spoon.
The Seagulls remained in fourth place with a top-five finish secure on 11 points, behind Easts 21, Wests 16, and Brothers 14, but now just one ahead of Waves, with Wallaroos on 6, but their only chance to clinch third and a double-chance in the play-offs is to beat Wests at home and Wallaroos in their remaining fixtures, and for Brothers to lose to Easts and Waves.
Hervey Bay matched Easts in all departments on Saturday but the Magpies established a 10-point buffer with hooker Arden Lankowski darting over from dummy-half for his second try and captain Matt Craven converting in the 68th minute, and from there, they defended stoutly despite continuing to turn the ball over as the clock ticked away.
Powerhouse Magpies centre Trent Seeds also notched a double, taking his tally to 11 in their past seven games and lifting his season haul to 12, now just three behind Matt Craven on the Leading Try Scorer list.
Matt was also overtaken in the Top Points scorer stakes by Layton Chambers, who took his total to 122, four more than the Magpies’ reigning BRL Player of the Year.
Layton continued his outstanding form for Waves, but all their four tries were scored by rugged forwards, including former long serving Easts champions, battering ram front rower Ross Larsen and inspirational captain Reece Maughan, and formerly Melbourne Storm contracted Coby Gibbs.
For Wests, electrifying five-eighth Caleb Tull and rookie centre Daniel Clancy also grabbed doubles, but after looking invincible early in the season, they have now lost four of their past seven starts, and apart from Easts, who have now won eight in a row, there appears little between the other top four sides.
On the other hand, Wallaroos again gave it their best shot on Saturday, but they slumped to their sixth straight loss and their fourth successive home defeat as the Brethren beat them by a similar margin for the third time in 2021, with barnstorming young front rower Brendan Stewart and flashy centre Klint Beer, in just his second game of the season, leading the charge with two tries each.
Football
Hosts Across The Waves (ATW) recovered from a one-goal half-time deficit to claim the outright lead on the Wide Bay Premier League Men’s ladder at the expense of Fraser Flames with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over them on Saturday.
Waves came out all guns blazing after the break and took the lead with two goals in the first four minutes of the second stanza, the second to Nykodah, who took his season tally to 27 and stretched his lead over Bingera’s Gary O’Donnell in Golden Boot standings to four, and that was enough as the end to end duel continued down to the wire.
In other matches, Jake Brough notched a double as Brothers-Aston Villa (BAV) returned to form and to the top four, accounting for Sunbury Blues 5-3, and co-cellar dwellers SC Corinthians and Diggers both went down 4-1 to Granville and Doon Villa, respectively.
In the Women’s Premier League, Tayla Zielke cut loose with five goals to star in ATW’s 8-0 white-wash of Granville, also taking her season haul to 14 and within two of Golden Boot leader Kirsty Frehmann, of Sunbury Blues, and consolidating their fourth position in points standings.
But Bingera remain in fifth spot after suffering a setback in their quest for the finals, succumbing to third seeds KSS Jets 3-0.
AFL
Unbeaten Hervey Bay Bombers powered on relentlessly at their home ground in the Wide Bay Marquis Macadamias Seniors Premiership with a 14.23 (107) to 2.4 (16) annihilation of the winless Brothers Bulldogs on Saturday.
It was a bad afternoon for the Bundaberg teams, with across town, Bay Power kicking an unanswered three goals in the last quarter to outgun reigning champions Across The Waves Eagles 8.9 (57) to 5.5 (35), joining them on 32 points, and moving ahead of them on the ladder into second place with a superior percentage.
Hockey
Quaite has long been a name synonymous with hockey throughout Australia, and, upholding the proud family tradition which was started their grand-parents, the late Jim Quaite and his wife Elsie and has been continued by their children and their children, siblings Matthew and Sarah Quaite were both among the scorers as Waves Cities completed the Division 1 double against arch-rivals All Blacks at Hinkler Park on Saturday.
Matt grabbed a double as they continued the four-times defending men’s champions woes with an 8-0 shut-out of them, while Sarah struck once in their women’s 5-0 result.
Joel Latham was also on fire for their men with a hat-trick, while Anna Smith was their only women’s multiple scorer with two of the best.
Martin Green also doubled up as Arrows/Athletics’ men disposed of Raiders/Rovers 4-0, but the two club’s women battled out a scoreless draw.
Here are all the scores:
AFL Wide Bay
Marquis Macadamias Seniors Premiership
Bay Power 2.0, 5.4, 5.7, 8.9 (57) d Across The Waves 2.2, 3.4, 5.4, 5.5 (35).
BAY POWER – Goal Kickers: J. Fredericks 2, J. Stothard 2, J. Wheeler 2, M. Saunders, S. Dyson. Best Players: S. Dyson, J. Stothard, Z. Kolar, M. Schlein, J. Wheeler, D. Alexander
ACROSS THE WAVES – Goal Kickers: Michael Blair 2, Nathan Van Eekeren, Jason Bethune, Codie Welsh. Best Players: Nathan Van Eekeren, Travis Esmer, Michael Blair, Dan Baker, Jaymes Harrod, Damian McRae
Hervey Bay Bombers 3.6, 6.12, 8.17, 14.23 (107) d Brothers Bulldogs 1.2, 1.3, 2.4, 2.4 (16).
HERVEY BAY BOMBERS – Goal Kickers: H. Telfer 3, L. Hodgetts 3, T. Baldwin, J. Darby, C. Baker, B. Holland, H. Navez, Z. Laud, B. Richards, J. Hickey. Best Players: J. Andrew, J. Simms, T. Baldwin, O. Smith, M. Lewis, C. Wicks
BROTHERS BULLDOGS – Goal Kickers: Chris Heaslip 2
Reserves
Maryborough 3.1, 5.2, 6.8, 10.8 (68) d Brothers Bulldogs 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0 (0).
MARYBOROUGH – Goal Kickers: B. McCracken 5, L. Tully 2, C. Edwards 2. Best Players: H. Bidois, J. Sharman, T. Lewis, B. McCracken, C. Edwards, J. Porter
BROTHERS BULLDOGS – Best Players: Matthew Wattie, Gary Browne, Paul Timms, Ben Cranmer, Zak Mercieca, Josh Wilkinson.
Bay Power 1.1, 2.1, 2.6, 4.6 (30) d Across The Waves 0.2, 2.2, 4.2, 4.4 (28).
BAY POWER – Goal Kickers: J. Fredericks 3, H. Salisbury. Best Players: M. Benich, G. Krohn, J. Fredericks, H. Salisbury, K. Bugeja, A. Willingham
ACROSS THE WAVES – Goal Kickers: Peter Gorup, Keiran Perry, Paul Welsh, Mat Fleming. Best Players: Paul Welsh, Oliver Wightman, Paul Morgan, Ron Blair, Dan Nimmo, Mat Fleming
Football Wide Bay
Premier League Men
Wednesday: BINGERA 6 (Gary O’Donnell 4, Scott McEwan, Josh Watson) d DIGGERS 0.
Saturday: ATW 2 (Corey Leggett, Nykodah Smith) d FRASER FLAMES 1 (C Martelli).
BAV 5 (Jake Brough 2, Lachlan Scarborough, Johnson Tekbiyik, Drew Boylan) d SUNBURY BLUES 3.
GRANVILLE 4 d SC CORINTHIANS 1 (Chris Bull).
DOON VILLA 4 d DIGGERS 1.
Reserves Men
Tuesday: BINGERA 7 (Patrick McMahon 3, Shaun Sergiacomi 2, Henry Brophy, Dean Pickup) d DIGGERS 1 (Travis Price).
Saturday: ATW 2 (Blake Walsh, Aden Russo) d FRASER FLAMES 1 (J Lakin).
UPE 8 (Josh Adcock 2, Luke Darcy 2, (Finlay Bath, Anik Ulahannan, Nathan Millis, Asher Markey) d UNITED WARRIORS 2.
SC CORINTHIANS 4 (Craig Brown 2, Caiden Brown, William Osborne) d GRANVILLE 2
Premier League Women
KSS JETS 3 (M Lung, M Scholz, K Penrose) d BINGERA 0.
ATW 8 (Tayla Zielke 5, Zoe Sobczak, Alex Brunker, Bethany Gapes) d GRANVILLE 0.
UPE 6 d TINANA 0.
Division 1 Men North
ATW 2 (Mitchell Capuzzo 2) d UPE RED 1 (Matthew Spence).
DIGGERS 4 (Brent Illingworth, Mitchell Bluff, Jon Van Lierop, Kagan Eren) d SC CORINTHIANS 2 (Oluwatomisin Biya, Teo Nguyen).
UPE GREEN 8 d GIN GIN 0.
BAV 6 (Tom Martin 3, Jesse Sommer 2, Will Brosnan) d BARGARA 1 (Brett Heidrich).
Division 1 Women North
ATW DEVELOPMENT 5 (Bethany Gapes 2, Korrin Stirrat, Amity Palmer, Cecilia Hicks) d SC CORINTHIANS 0.
ATW MASTERS 2 (Kate Sobczak 2) drew UPE 2.
BARGARA 3 (Zaire Killen 2, Shakira Damico) d DIGGERS 2 (Heidi Walk).
Hockey Bundaberg
U11s
Raiders Rovers 7 (Ava Baldry 1, Beau Kendall 1, Levi Kendall 1, Stella Dwyer 4) defeated Arrows Athletics 2 (Jessica Stehbens 1, Charlie Cox 1)
Waves Cities 10 (Cameron Callaghan 1, Brock Green 2, Sophie Aitkenhead 3, Ruby Potter 4) defeated All Blacks 0
U13s
Arrows Athletics 4 (Harlan Bignell 1, Tully Dorgan 3) defeated Raiders Rovers 2 (Levi Kendall 1, Beau Kendall 1)
Waves Cities 8 (Sophie Aitkenhead 1, Gabi Aitkenhead 1, Marshall Eason 2, Ava McCaig 2, Brock Green 2) defeated All Blacks 0
U16s
Arrows Athletics won on forfeit – Raiders Rovers forfeited
Waves Cities 0 drew with All Blacks 0
Div 2 Women
Raiders Rovers 3 (Kerri-Anne Lund 1, Reegan Wightman 1, Amanda Wightman 1) defeated Arrows Athletics 1 (Malanie Stehbens 1)
Waves Cities 2 (Angela Asnicar 1, Kylie Consen 1) defeated All Blacks 0
Div 1 Women
Raiders Rovers 0 drew with Arrows Athletics 0
Waves Cities 5 (Jessica Asnicar 1, Sarah Ryan 1, Sarah Quaite 1, Anna Smith 2) defeated All Blacks 0
Div 2 Men
Arrows Athletics 11 (Jesse Beveridge 1, Liam Dorgan 1, Brendan Wenban 2, Harry Gardiner 2, David Wenban 3) defeated Raiders Rovers 0
Div 1 Men
Arrows Athletics 4 (Harry Gardiner 1, Ryan Maclean 1, Martin Green 2) defeated Raiders Rovers 0
Waves Cities 8 (Lachlan McLennan 1, Jerry Burtt 1, Ethan Rach 1, Matthew Quaite 2, Joel Latham 3) defeated All Blacks 0
Rugby League
Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership
EASTS MAGPIES 30 (Trent Seeds 2, Arden Lankowski 2, Dylan Taylor, Tyrell Howard tries; Matthew Craven 2, Arden Lankowski goals) d HERVEY BAY SEAGULLS 20 (David Woodbridge, Jeremiah Pati, Anthony Gray, Griffin Lowe tries; Mitchell Laughton 2 goals).
WAVES TIGERS 26 (Ross Larsen, Coby Gibbs, Reece Maughan, Folau Havili tries; Layton Chambers 5 goals) d WESTS PANTHERS 18 (Daniel Clancy 2, Caleb Tull 2 tries; Chris Robinson goal).
PAST BROTHERS 38 (Klinton Beer 2, Brendan Stewart 2, Tyrell Priestley, Mat Templeman, Ben Fleming tries; Tyrell Priestley 2, Ben Fleming 2, Benaiah Kambanei goals) d WALLAROOS 18 (Tyson Allen, Shaun Collins, Jesse Robertson tries; Bailey Eckert 2, Rigan Nielsen goal).
Reserve Grade
EASTS MAGPIES 20 (Denim Rogers 2, Robert Wondrock, Bennett Ooms-Otineru tries; Jackson Paulson 2 goals) d HERVEY BAY SEAGULLS 12 (Sebastyn Currie 2 tries; Joel Denduck 2 goals).
WESTS PANTHERS 34 (Hugh Raftos 2, Blain Martin, Hayden Smith, Isaiah Bullard, Kynan Hard, Ethan Evans tries; Lochlan Modrow, Ryan Sharpe, Kynan Hard goals) d WAVES TIGERS 4 (Bailey Brown try).
WALLAROOS 40 (Lawrence Muckan 2, Edward Booth, Brad Gela, Zachary Iker, Kynan Watson, David Ball, Harley Youngberry tries; Kynan Watson 4 goals) d PAST BROTHERS 14 (Dritan Zoto, Brendon McKeown, Jamie Turnbull tries; Brendon McKeown goal).
Under-18
WALLAROOS 62 (Joel Cox 3, Kayne Cooke 2, Bailey Mills 2, Noah Dawson, Kyle Knight, Regan Allen, Jack Lowrie tries; Noah Dawson 9 goals) d PAST BROTHERS 0.
WESTS PANTHERS 26 (Kade Forrester 2, Zander Kerr 2, Bryden Blair tries; William Coffison, Kynan Hard, Zander Kerr goals) d HERVEY BAY SEAGULLS 10 (Elias Broome, Darnell Murray tries; Dylan Bennett goal).
Bundaberg Junior
Under-16
HERVEY BAY 16 (Kayleb Angeles, Harry Armstrong, Kyal Pitchford tries; Eden Wheeler 2 goals) d WESTS 12 (Ryan Bugeja, Cayleb Johnson tries; 2 goals).
Under-15
BROTHERS 32 (Malachi Solomon 2, Dane Zardus, Blake Powter tries; Blake Powter 4 goals) d WAVES 10 (Tom Morcom, Cooper Black tries; goal).
WESTS 32 (Dominic Bunyoung 2, Lucas Brough, James Faulkner, Matthew Telfer, Noah Law tries; Lucas Brough 3, Noah Law goals) d HERVEY BAY 8 (Bailey Gensch, Taylor Povey tries).
Under-14
MAGPIES 28 d WALLAROOS 22 (Lincoln Charles 4 tries; Rilee French goal).
WAVES 50 (Reghan Fischer, Preston Walsh 2, Brody Allan 2, Riley Morcom tries; Jimmy Gear 5, Preston Walsh, Reghan Fischer goals) d WESTS 12 (Darnell Saunders, Riley Modrow tries; Darnell Saunders, Xavier Stanley goals).
BROTHERS 30 (Levi Monckton, Toby Collins, Cooper De Silva, Jomar Gustilo, Isaac Barrett tries; Jomar Gustilo 4, Cooper De Silva goals) d HERVEY BAY 20 (Corey Bennett, Deacon Carey, Caleb Berthelsen tries; Michael Parsgaard goal).
Under-13
WALLAROOS d BEASTY BEARS ON FORFEIT.
WESTS 26 (Beau Molo 2, Lael Lampton tries; Levi Brough 2 goals) d WAVES 10 (Hayden Ferguson try; Parkka Perrotta-Dowling goal).
Northern Districts
Men
SOUTH KOLAN 54 (Monty Chapman-Dynevor, Darren Broome 3, Jackson Brown 2, Cem Rohdmann, Phillip Lindsay, Kyle Groves tries; Andrew Filo 9 goals) d Miriam Vale 26 (Tyler Harvey, Jake Popp 2, Tim McIntosh, Ray Kaestner tries; Brandon Hornby 2, Tim McIntosh goals).
GIN GIN 84 (Connor Boon 2, Justin Johnson 3, Latu Vea, Cameron Ross, Maka Taliauli, Mitchell Hazzard, Mathew Collier, Todd Blair, Rowan Sutton 2, Matthew Peachy, Josh Robertson tries; Cameron Ross 12 goals) d AVONDALE 6 (Brendan Prossliner try & goal).
Women’s League Tag
GIN GIN 30 (Jessica Galea, Kristy Orpin, Karrie Hills 2, Chloe Curtis, Rachael Jose tries; Emma Collinson 3 goals) d AVONDALE HORNETS 0
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