NDRL 2023: Isis Devils beat South Kolan Sharks

An enthusiastic South Kolan crowd was almost enough to tip the scales in favour of the home team on Sunday, but the tenacity and fitness from three players especially, sealed a win for the Devils.

Royce Blair goes over for one of his two tries for the Isis Devils.

It’s been more than three years in the making but the Isis Devils are back in rugby league competition and they are back with a win.

The Devils were forced to pull out of ahead of the Bundaberg Rugby League season in 2019 as they were unable to field a first team.

But now, more than three years later, the club from Childers is out of the wilderness and competing again, this time in the Northern Districts Rugby League.

Coach Ian Kearton, who presided over a tight 22-20 over South Kolan Sharks on Sunday, said it was great to be back and he was relieved to have got a victory first up, although it was tighter than he and the side would have wanted.

"South Kolan really stuck it to us, it was a hard-fought win that’s for sure," Kearton said.

"I have said it before and I’ll say it again, it’ll take time to gel so certainly there’s a lot of improvement in us at the moment, but the team showed a lot of character and dug deep and defended extremely well. "And that’s all you can ask for in round one, I guess.

"Hopefully as the season goes on we will get better."

Royce Blair goes over for one of his two tries for the Isis Devils.

The Devils were 18-6 up at half-time but with a parochial Shark Park (South Kolan Recreational Reserve), the home side almost completed a remarkable comeback.

"South Kolan, came back strong with a wet sail," Kearton said.

"But like I said, our boys really dug deep and did a lot of tackling in the second half and I think the fitness got us through, we’ve worked hard on it training."

A number of players stood out for Kearton in the round one success but he picked out Rhys Felgate, club stalwart Royce Blair and Zac Dann.

"Our players’ player went to young Rhys Felgate," the coach said.

"He’s our other prop (alongside Blair). He really stood up and led the way especially in defence he made a lot of tackles.

"Royce showed his leadership qualities and led from the front and scored two tries when we needed them.

He was really good with lifting the morale of the team as was back then.

"Zac Dann was also excellent. He showed lot of leadership skills as well, while all three stood up with great defence when needed."

Kearton said he loved the atmosphere at South Kolan and hoped that the crowds continued to show up for the rest of the NDRL season.

"The general feel out there was so good," he said.

"You can just tell that the communities get around it and really support their league and it means a lot of the communities that they travel out to."

In Sunday’s other NDRL round one fixture, the Miriam Vale Magpies scored five tries but Avondale Tigers touched down nine times to run out 46-26 winners.

Isis Devils Women's League Tag team in action Kirstie Helmore.

In the NDRL Women’s League Tag competition, the Gin Gin Hawkettes defeated the Avondale Tigeresses 26-0, while the Marlin Women’s side beat Isis Devils 10-4.