Beerwah Bulldogs, Caloundra Sharks and Caboolture Snakes claim 2024 Sunshine Coast rugby league titles
The 2024 Sunshine Coast rugby league champions have been decided as we highlight the major moments, key players and deciding factors. Read each match as it happened.
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The champions have been crowned and the celebrations have begun as the Sunshine Coast senior rugby league premiers have been decided for 2024.
Eight teams across four senior divisions battled it out at the Sunshine Coast Stadium in what was a great showing for local talent.
We were there to cover all of the action from play-by-play moments, game-breaking talking points and standout players.
Under-19s: Caboolture vs Caloundra
Hopes were split as both teams entered the field with Caboolture finished as minor premiers but Caloundra grabbing the uphand with a 30-16 result in the major semi final.
It took Caboolture just a handful of tackles before they opened the scoring as Bayden Hales burrowed his way over close to the line and George Taualai added the extra two.
The Snakes continued to dominate the field and ball possession but Caloundra held strong with their scramble goal line defence for the score to remain 6-0.
Caloundra tried to swing the tide after 20 minutes of play but this time it was Caboolture’s defence that held strong and forced the hand of the Sharks attack.
Sharks halfback James Marriott was confident throughout the first half, producing a number of standout kicks from anywhere on the field before an attempt from inside his own 20m line was charged down by Talavou Pule.
The pressure was too much for Caloundra as Caboolture eventually added to the scoresheet thanks to a chip kick from Patrick Cathcart was pounced on by forward Casino Williams under the sticks.
The Snakes held Caloundra on the back foot as they added to their lead just before halftime via an unders route from barging lock forward Harry Hunt close to the line.
As the first half came to a close a break away kick-off run from Bayden Hales sparked another try scoring opportunity as George Taulai put in a cross field kick that bounced awkwardly for both teams, missing everyone before Caboolture winger Adam Khan stretched out to plant the ball down.
The teams returned from the halftime break with Caboolture holding a 22-0 lead and it only got worse for Caloundra as a high kick from Taulai went straight through the hands of Caloundra winger Lachie Hill and bounced favourably for the speedy Adam Khan.
Caloundra didn’t have any answer for the Caboolture tsunami as fullback Patrick Cathcart picked and went himself to score next to the right upright before George Taulai ran through untouched minutes later to make it 42-0.
Some skipping footwork from Caboolture’s Jayden Alefaio on the right edge caught his opponents off guard before he proved too powerful to stop next to the right corner post.
The Sharks were finally able to get onto the scoreboard thanks to a nice shortball from Zahn Greenhalgh put Lachie Argaet through the gap but their happiness was short lived as Caboolture reached the half century mark after some nice link up play between Harry Hunt and Christian Vaigafa from 10m out.
After going seven from seven with the boot, George Taulai was pulled from the field after picking up a knock to the ribs during Caloundra’s try.
A 50-6 Scoreline remained with 12 minutes to play and it was a tough watch for Caloundra players and supporters as the Snakes continued to pile on the points through Marley Marshall, Bayden Hales, Jayden Alefaio and Harry Hunt while Ben Waters also snagged a try for Caloundra.
The match eventually came to a close with the referee calling time, Caboolture winning the contest 74-12.
Caboolture head coach James Fruean said the premiership was a long time coming.
“I’m very happy, the boys are very happy,” he said.
“Obviously it was a goal we set at the start of the year but we really stripped it back to keeping our play simple.
“Everyone worked really hard for each other in defence which then really helped our attack fall into place.”
Player of the match George Taulai said he was pleased with his side’s performance.
“We knew if we could stay in the grind and push really hard through the opening 20 or 25 minutes the points would come when we had our hands on the footy,” he said.
“Our momentum was crazy, our energy from when we got on the bus was massive and we kept that throughout the game.
“It’s obviously just a full credit to the boys.”
C-Grade: Caloundra vs Mary Valley
Neither side were able to take complete control during the opening 15 minutes but it was Caloundra who opened the scoring through Liam Pedroni followed by a darting run from Ben Jones pushed the score out to 10-0.
Jones exited the field with what looked to be a lower leg injury before an extremely grindy first half of football followed.
The Stags and the Sharks both threw some attacking sequences together but weren’t able to make any divots into each other’s defensive lines.
The teams resumed the second half with Caloundra holding a two try lead.
A brilliant switch of play found the Sharks left edge come together like prime Queensland Maroons as the ball was initially scooped up by halfback Drew Christie after a failed switch from Mary Valley before Christie scooted across the 30m line, dished the ball inside to Mitch Wood who drew in the cover defence and passed off to speedy centre Jake Bartel to run 65m and score under the posts.
The outside attack didn’t stop there with the Sharks right edge getting their turn minutes later as captain Dennis Blumsom put Jack Dougan through a gap, leaving Dougan to beat multiple defenders before passing back to Blumson who ran away and made it a 22-0 scoreline.
A huge hit from Liam Pedroni turned the ball over in favour of Caloundra and they made the Stags pay with Dennis Blumsom strolling over untouched for his second try of the match.
A mini on the ground brawl saw Caloundra’s Joel Kendall sent for 10 in the bin while Stags lock forward Rowdy Coleman did it all himself to snag his side’s first try of the match.
Some repeat sets for the Stags led to Rowdy Coleman throwing a lovely cut out ball to Mark Murtagh who went himself to score in the right corner.
Any hope of a stunning comeback was soon crushed for Mary Valley as Sharks centre Jake Bartel secured his hat trick with two run-away tries before the referee blew the full time whistle.
Caloundra were crowned back-to-bak C-Grade premiers with a 40-10 result as halfback Drew Christie was awarded player of the match.
Head coach Mitch Jackson was proud of his team’s efforts.
“It’s great for our club to be competitive in all senior divisions throughout the year,” he said.
“We lost a few guys from last year and had a fair few new faces join us this season so it was a bit of an unknown as to how we’d go.
“There’s some guys in our side that could be playing in higher grades but they just really enjoy the culture of C-grade and the club.
“Everyone stood up today and everyone’s pumped to come away with the win.”
Reserve Grade: Beerwah vs Caloundra
It didn’t take long for minor premiers Beerwah to strike first as halfback Brent Warr dribbled through a grubber kick that sat up for the doggies fullback to easily put the ball down next to the right upright.
With Caloundra unable to crack into their attacking red zone Beerwah struck again after a nice looping cut out ball from mid-season recruit Kane Zalewski hit centre Ben Leggett on the chest and in space to extend the lead.
After some solid field position, the Sharks were able to respond with fullback Jesse Savage throwing a cut out ball to right winger Jaiden McCahill.
A turnover on halfway landed Beerwah with the ball in hand as they used it to their advantage with Josh Bartholomai barging through the last line of defence and reaching out to score.
A penalty on the stroke of halftime meant the match resumed with Beerwah leading 18-8 before right centre Elijah Sheraton beat four Sharks defenders to reach out and add another four points to his side’s lead.
Some more free flowing footy from Caloundra meant Joel Benduck was able to throw the dummy and go himself to shorten the gap to 12 points.
The Sharks kept a roll on with 20 minutes still to go as an eyes-up grubber kick from halfback Justin McCoy-Edwards bounced low into the in goal for centre Liam Smith to gather and score.
The Bulldogs reversed the pressure back onto Caloundra with some threatening attacking sets but after opting to not take a penalty shot at goal they fumbled their chances at crossing the tryline.
That was quickly forgotten as Brent Warr showed a brilliant pair of hands, regathering a kick before dishing to the Beerwah hooker to cross the stripe.
As the final minutes ticked down, centre Ben Leggett scored his second try of the match before the referee called fulltime with the scores 32-16 in favour of the Bulldogs.
Player of the match Tony Ainsworth said he was proud of his team’s effort.
“It was a good, enjoyable game and I’m very happy to get the win,” he said.
“I feel I played pretty well and now we can celebrate as a team.”
A-Grade: Coolum vs Beerwah
The match began with Beerwah enforcer Daniel Kidd limping from the field within the opening minute, resulting in a big blow for the doggies.
Nothing changed on the scoreline in the opening 10 minutes despite Coolum controlling the majority of the field position.
Beerwah turned the tide in the following 10 as they pinned the Colts in their own half and threw forward some decent attacking plays before youngster Tristan Roselt produced some fancy footwork to score the first try of the match.
A high ball was collected well by Roselt minutes later but knocked from his hands and scooped up by Colts attacking players Seaton Reid and Sam Elara who finished off the play in the corner.
Reid converted the attempt from the sideline which put the Colts up by two which was followed up with a second try in the 26th minute mark as second row forward Sam Bernstrom stiff-armed his opponent before gliding to the try line.
The match was halted with nine minutes to play in the second half as Coolum winger Dylan Glassie was taken from the field with a head knock while Beerwah found themselves a man down with hooker Damian Forde-Hurrell spending time in the sin bin.
Tensions continued to boil as Colts winger Yamba Bowie quickly found himself in the sin bin for a high flop shot before Beerwah halfback Matt Kidd targeted that right edge with a crossfield kick for Sam Fullerton to scoop up in the in-goal.
The conversion attempt from out wide narrowly missed for Sam McClure as both teams entered the halftime break with Coolum leading 10-8.
Both teams came out with plenty of energy to start the second half and it was Beerwah who regained the lead thanks to a smart grubber kick in behind the defence from Taoho Kake for Damian Forde-Hurrell to dive all over.
The extra two were added from McClure but the try did come at a cost with Forde-Hurrell leaving the field with a shoulder injury.
Some back and forth grindy play came to a halt once again at the 55th minute mark as Beerwah lost utility hooker Taoho Kake to a shoulder injury.
Bulldogs number nine Forde-Hurrell returned to the field with his right arm hanging by his waist before a brutal collision to Beerwah’s Lachie McClure had both teams and the referee staring down the barrel of a fiery finish.
Beerwah kept the pressure on Coolum as they forced a number of errors out of the minor premiers as the Bulldogs linked together thanks to some slick hands from Matt Kidd and Nick Jennings meant Dylan Kerr produced a cracking superman dive in the left hand corner.
Coolum found themselves 10 points down with 10 minutes to play and as the clock ticked down the men in maroon and yellow struggled to string any attacking pressure together.
A late effort from Coolum reduced the gap to four points as Marlon Hawksin sliced through the defensive line before passing to Nate Saumalu who ran around and scored under the posts.
The atmosphere and intensity lifted with three minutes to play and as the Colts continued to knock on the door Beerwah had an answer in the form of their terrific scramble defence.
Coolum went close in the final 30 seconds but were held up over the line before their last ditch effort was controlled by the men in blue.
The match eventually came to an end as Beerwah claimed back-to-back grand final victories with a 20-16 win.
Head coach Brett Hill was overcome with emotions after the match.
“We’ve been tough and gritty for the last eight weeks,” he said.
“We had three blokes by the end of the game that simply couldn’t go back on the field but it’s in our DNA to not give in and we kept our plan pretty simple.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic because we started the year on the back foot and we shouldn’t have even been here.”
At the beginning of the season Hill declared his side during the first few rounds would be a lot different to the team that ended it.
“We lost a number of guys last season so we had to bring up a lot of guys from reserve grade this year,” he said.
“It took them a while to adjust to the pace of A-grade which is why after a while we got rid of our expectations and started to go on a bit of a run.
“Once everyone got on the same page it just clicked and I’m so proud of them all.”
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