Yvonne Sampson: We must do more to protect rugby league in country Queensland

WHILE Queensland’s teams dominate the NRL, rugby league is struggling in western parts of the state, despite passionate support. We must do more to protect the game in country areas, writes Yvonne Sampson.

Outback rugby league club ravaged by drought.

IT’S a dot on the map in the dead centre of Queensland.

A place of dusty farms and modest weatherboard homes, where the 250 odd people who live there enjoy a cold XXXX from the only pub in town.

Welcome to Ilfracombe, known for its wool, former Governor-general Quentin Bryce and Matt Scott, the best front rower in Australia.

Scott regularly made a 400km trip to play footy as a junior.

His mum Dianne drove a bus of kids around Central Queensland to make sure of it.

Ilfracombe has one senior team, the Scorpions.

A couple of years ago they lost their home ground to drought.

Former Ilfracombe junior, Cowboys star Matt Scott. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The thick soft cover of grass that cushioned every tackle dried up to the point where they couldn’t play on it.

The team still trained on the rock hard surface. They had no choice.

Queensland legends Petero Civoniceva and Billy Slater held a dinner to raise some money to protect the oval — high fences to stop the roos and other vermin making it worse.

But the long dry spell is killing the competition. They’ve had a bit of rain recently, but the damage has been done.

The junior numbers are getting smaller as families move thousands of kilometres away to get work.

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Winton, the reigning premiers, are a powerhouse of the Central West RL.

They’ve won seven out of the past eight years (lost one to Ilfracombe) but this season they haven’t got enough players to enter a side.

“You only have to lose a couple of people in this town and you’re buggered. A lot of families have moved away to give their kids better opportunities.” Winton Devils stalwart Joel Mann said.

Joel Mann is a proud Winton Devil. He captained and coached the side through much of their hot streak and serves on the local council.

Town decorations in Winton for the 2016 rugby league grand final. Picture: Supplied

His brother Kurt Mann plays for the St George Illawarra Dragons.

“If you don’t support Winton, you get run out of town,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like without games.

“It’s sad to see the town the way it’s going. It’s not prosperous, it’s going backwards.”

In the 1990s, there was up to 10 towns battling it out for A-Grade glory, and there was a reserve grade competition too.

Now there are just four clubs left.

The end of the mining boom and the cruel realities of drought have left these rugby league loving communities wondering if they will have a competition in a few years.

“The drought has been a slow disaster,” says David Kerrigan, the President of the Central West Rugby League.

“We’re hanging in there, but it’s bloody hard.”

While the money and the power lies in the South East, rugged authenticity and passion lives in the bush.

From Chincilla to Charters Towers and Cloncurry to Charleville, rugby league in country Queensland must be protected.

Where will we find players like Coen Hess (Mount Isa), Billy Slater (Innisfail), Will Chambers (Nhulunbury, NT) Dane Gagai (Mackay) Justin O’Neill (Hughenden), and Gavin Cooper (Murgon) without it?

Mother nature can be unkind, but surely we can do more for the people in those small towns who love and live this game.

I haven’t got the answers. These are just a few stories from the Central West.

But maybe we should start with someone at the pub in Ilfracombe. I reckon they’d have some ideas.

Round 1 of the 2018 Central West Rugby League season kicks off tonight.

Ilfracombe plays Barcaldine and Blackall plays Longreach at 7pm.

Originally published as Yvonne Sampson: We must do more to protect rugby league in country Queensland