Oakey edges out Brothers in TRL trial, Southern Suburbs attack shines bright

Brothers and Oakey played out a thrilling trial to kickstart the Toowoomba Rugby League pre-season, as Souths sent out a message to the rest of the competition.

Faletoese Faletoese for Oakey. Picture: Nev Madsen

RUGBY LEAGUE: Welcome to the Toowoomba Rugby League off-season tracker. Here we will bring you the latest player signings from all 12 clubs as they are announced.

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TRIAL RESULTS

There’s no such thing as a soft contest when Brothers and Oakey collide, even if it’s a trial.

The Leprechauns took the fight right to the Bears in a physical encounter at Glenholme Park, with the visitors prevailing 34-30 with a late try sealing the win.

In what was a golden chance for both sides to showcase their talents and for players on the fringe to push their case for an A-grade spot in round one, both delivered in a high-scoring display.

Oakey president Brendan Dolan said it was a solid first outing from his side with a lot of new faces stepping out in the black and white for the first time.

“It was a good first hitout and good to get a bit of that rust out,” Dolan said.

“We had a large squad and trialled a few players in different positions. it was the first time they played together and Brothers threw plenty at us.

“It always tends to be a spirited match when Brothers and Oakey play. It was a good chance for us to see the rest of the squad.”

Coach Herman Ene-Purcell said while there was plenty of room for improvement, he was pleased with their attitude towards the contest.
“It was a bit rusty but that’s to be expected,” he said.

“There was more positives than negatives to take out of it. The main goal is to get the players clicking.

“Brothers capitalised on some of our simple errors, but they are all easy things we can work on at training.”

With a number of potential round one starters missing from the trial, Dolan said their depth was able to stand tall, while some credentialed recruits impressed.

“We had about four or five starters that weren’t there,” he said.

“I thought Leevai Sutton played very well and AJ Ma Chong played a good game as well.

“Our local boys really stepped up, and Dylan Court was good in his first hit out for a while.”

Earlier in the day, Brothers reserve grade side scored late in the contest to secure a hard-fought 16-14 win over Oakey.

Brothers women turned in an impressive first third, before finishing off to land a comfortable victory over the Highfields Eagles.

At the nearby Jack Martin Centre, Southern Suburbs looked impressive as they were able to take down Newtown in two grades.

The A-grade attack looked fluent as they came away with a 48-14 win, while reserve grade experienced a similar fate to the tune of 38-8.

The TRL trials really ramp up this coming weekend with at least eight clubs set to take to the field.

Among the most anticipated fixtures will be the annual Barrett Shield clash between Wattles and Warwick at Platz Oval.

OAKEY BEARS

They’ve been one of the most active clubs in the marketplace in the TRL off-season, and now the Oakey Bears will get their first chance to impress this weekend.

After rain forced the cancellation of a planned trial last weekend, Oakey is one of a number of teams in action on Saturday.

The Bears are scheduled to host Souths Inala at Trevor Mickleborough Oval, however their opponent and venue remains up in the air with wet weather and ground conditions in play.

“We’re not concerned about winning this weekend,” coach Herman Ene-Purcell said.

“Our goal is to see the boys putting their plays together that they’ve learnt in the off-season and get familiar with their positions.

“We’ve recruited pretty heavily and the boys look good on paper, we just need to work on gelling together.

“The vibes are good at the club and everyone is enjoying it. We’re all excited to see the hard work of the boys in action this weekend.”

The Bears have added a further two names to their roster for 2022, with former junior Dylan Court, as well as former Mustangs (now Clydesdales) representative Jazz Namana joining the fray.

“They’ve been turning up since the start of pre-season and have had a few clubs chasing them,” he said.

“But they like the culture of the club and decided to sign with us.

“Jazz is probably the most capped Clydesdales player so to get his signature is big. Dylan is an Oakey junior and another big asset.”

Their trial is one of three scheduled to take place in Toowoomba this weekend.

Brothers will host Maroochydore at Glenholme Park on Saturday, with Southern Suburbs welcoming Newtown to their new home of Gold Park.

2022 SIGNINGS: Benji Neliman, Michael Cochrane, Wes Aumau, Dylan Adamson, Brayden Schilf, Malik Woodbridge, Noel Bartman, Eddie Dean, Sam Dowling, AJ Ma Chong, Ezzard Beard, Leevai Sutton, Sione Lopamaua, Sam Cocker, Cedric Paniani-Orika, Allwin Long, Steve Rodgers, Damon Anderson, Rima Kamoe, Jazz Namana, Dylan Court, Moa Alovili, Muka Siaosi, Faletoese Faletoese

BROTHERS LEPRECHAUNS

2022 SIGNINGS: Jaren Bender, David Conlan, Garrard Brewer, Dwaine Jacobs, Anthony Dain, Travis Hill, Sam Betros, Dan English, Bryce Whale, Jayden Carter, Wapu Elara, Mitch Revell, Jessy Hammermeister, Keren Parravicini, Koby Bruggerman, Blake Robinson, Jake Head, Nick Nairn

NEWTOWN LIONS

Newtown is preparing for its second season back in the top flight of the TRL, with a well-credentialed mentor set to lead the way.

Former Sunshine Coast coach of the year Lionel McDonald will take over the running of the A-grade Lions.

It’s not his first venture into the TRL however, with Newtown ironically ending a premiership dream almost two decades ago.

“I came over to coach Oakey in 2004, and Newtown knocked us out of the finals,” McDonald said.

“I’ve been coaching on the Sunshine Coast and thought the time was right to come back. I saw an ad for the role and put in an application.

“Newtown is a great club with a hardworking committee that wants the best for the club.

“It’s the 100th year of the club which is great.”

McDonald acknowledges there are challenges ahead with a turnover of personnel from last year.

He said players who had shown up were giving their all, as they looked to put the finishing touches on the pre-season.

“We’ve lost a lot of players from last year, but the blokes we have are really putting in and wanting to push themselves further,” he said.

“I try to make it more of their club, and coach the way that the more they put in, the more they get out of it.

“I usually pick three or four players in a leadership group, and want players to be involved in other things at the club, not just league.”

The Lions have been dealt one of the tougher starts to the season after the draw announcement, with Goondiwindi, Wattles, Dalby, Gatton and Oakey to start 2022.

McDonald said a pair of trials would give them an indication of how they were tracking ahead of their opener against the defending premiers.

“We play Souths on March 5 and then St George a few weeks later. We’ll know more then,” he said. “It’s a very hard draw on Newtown. Oakey should go well with all the players they have.”

Newtown has been active in the recruitment stakes of late, adding the signatures of Koby Cubby, Jacob Lingwoodock, Sam Dempsey and Kalemb Hart for the new season.

2022 SIGNINGS: Koby Cubby, Jacob Lingwoodock, Sam Dempsey, Kalemb Hart

DALBY DIEHARDS

Dalby is making big moves to bolster its playing stocks for the TRL Premiership season.

A number of key signings have added plenty of size to the Diehards forward pack as they look to work their way back into the finals picture.

Andrew Petaia, Loia Fetaoai, Ramon Filipine and Saunda Seumanutafa are new faces in the TRL, bringing strong pedigrees from Ipswich and the BRL.

A returning Dalby junior in Sam Fermor makes his league comeback after representing the Australian Defence in union.

The Diehards have also secured the signature of one of the TRL’s most imposing forwards, with Joe Mu’a making the move from Wattles.

An emphasis on size has driven the off-season recruitment of the Diehards, with coach Kerry Carmichael looking to fill a number of gaps left by injuries and player departures.

“We had a lot of injuries last year and have had about four or five blokes leave through work,” Carmichael said.

“We had to do something this year and we really wanted to build some depth within the club.

“Last year we had to bring some players up to A-grade that weren’t ready for it at the time and it wasn’t fair on them. This will help our reserve grade and U19s as well.”

Carmichael said the influence of Mu’a in the forwards would prove to be a big one as the club brings some much needed aggression to the fold.

“We’ve lacked that aggression over the past five or 10 years,” he said.

“Joe and our new signings will bring it. This will help to give our younger blokes some more confidence.”

As well as the new brigade of signings, a number of key veterans will return in the likes of Steve Franciscus, Danny Wassell, Xavier Manley and Chris Wilkes.

“They are a good influence on the side and these new signings will help their game,” he said.

“I think a few players were disheartened last year, but welcoming these blokes back should lift everyone up a peg.

“We owe it to the town and to our sponsors to get a bit of success this year.”

2022 SIGNINGS: Joe Mu’a, Steve Franciscus, Danny Wassell, Xavier Manley, Chris Wilkes, Ed Kelly, Sam Fermor, Andrew Petaia, Loia Fetaoai, Ramon Filipine, Saunda Seumanutafa, Billy Jackwitz, Dylan Taylor, Denman Ah You

SOUTHERN SUBURBS

2022 SIGNINGS: Brodie Ciesiolka, Ben Cook, Ben Howard, Brandon Trost, Coby Ferguson, Kyle Petersen, Jock Waters, Luke Maiden, Ethan Hearn, Russell Fletcher, Hayden Twidale, Tim Sheedy, Mitch Murphy

VALLEYS ROOSTERS

2022 SIGNINGS: Drew Jackson, Brock Diment, Dwayne Duncan, Jarryd Dodd, Patty O’Callaghan, Dylan Chown, Logan Chown, John Maila, Daniel Bain, Declan Wheeler, Reggie Munn, Alex Hinch, Josh Afoa, Angus Taylor

GOONDIWINDI BOARS

2022 SIGNINGS: Travis Waddell, Chris Woodbridge, David McGrady, Michael Hazard, Malcolm McGrady, Tom Andersen, Kyle Munro, Jed Kindt, Tyler Dennison, John Goodfellow, Geoffrey Prince, Dallas Dennison, Tom Davis, Ash Jarrett, Matty Cleal

HIGHFIELDS EAGLES

2022 SIGNINGS: Jarrod Lee, Cory McGrady, Campbell Stewart, Josh Fanning, Sam Bielefeld, Conor Nolan, Nick Bainbridge, Josh Keoller, Matt Prowse, Will O’Gradey, Carl Clement, Jacob Leach, Cory Haywood

Originally published as Oakey edges out Brothers in TRL trial, Southern Suburbs attack shines bright