Cowboys, Blackhawks star: Top 20 performers from RLTD Trial Round
Junior Cowboys, returning favourites, new recruits and Blackhawks allocations are primed for monster 2024 seasons. Meet the competition stars already dominating the trial rounds.
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A sleeping giant of Rugby League Townsville and District could rise sooner than predicted after the Burdekin Roosters shocked Mackay champions Magpies 26-22 in a Saturday trial.
Little was expected from the Roosters in 2024 after missing the wooden spoon on points differential a season ago.
Expectations hit rock bottom when incoming coach Dan Beasley resigned less than a month out from kick-off to take up a job opportunity on the Gold Coast.
But critics of the Roosters may be in for a rude shock after the embattled club stunned the Magpies in Ayr.
Former Ignatius Park College and Centrals coach Steve Lansley has taken up the head coaching role, reuniting with several former students at the club, and appears to have inspired a rapid turnaround.
A pair of Kiwi-born junior Cowboys in Jeremiah Matautia and Henry Teutau will provide a dominant physical edge when they are not selected by the Mackay Cutters.
In other games, reigning Townsville premiers Brothers were beaten on the buzzer by sister-club Cairns Brothers, 18-16, in a battle between the champions of North and Far North Queensland. It was the first of three trials Brothers will play before launching its premiership defence against Centrals on April 6.
Western Lions defeated Wests Mackay two tries to one for an 8-6 victory in a sloppy affair in Townsville.
Each side made upwards of 10 errors but the Lions’ right edge of Jake Riley and Shaq Congoo scored a try each.
Centrals Tigers officials are determined it won’t take another 41 years to return to Palm Island after the first Rugby League Townsville and Districts A Grade action on the island since 1983.
Centrals were the first mainland club to take a match to Palm four decades ago and returned this weekend for a landmark trial fixture that coach Troy Buchanan hopes will be the first of many in the years to come.
“That was bigger than rugby league,” Buchanan said.
“We’d love to make it an annual event and most of the boys are already talking about that.”
Wet conditions scared away the big crowd expected by supporters in the hundreds braved the rain to attend the fixture.
Among them was the local artist (pictured in the front row) who painted the precious turtle shell gifted to Centrals in 1983.
He donned a Centrals jersey to be part of a picture after the match.
Centrals won the on-field action 26-4 but were forced to defend their line on multiple occasions as an unpredictable opposition pulled out the full bag of tricks for their visitors.
Multiple chip-and-chase attempts from inside the 20m area created headaches for Centrals’ back three, who executed desperate trysaving tackles to hold Palm to a single try.
Souths thumped Norths 42-0 on Friday.
TOP TRIAL PERFORMERS
Jeremiah Matautia
Burdekin, prop
The Cowboys-contracted prop has been allocated to the Mackay Cutters but the Burdekin Roosters will be his local club in matches Matautia is not selected for the Queensland Cup side.
The Kirwan graduate was a strong presence through the midfield in Burdekin’s trial win over Mackay champions Magpies.
Matautia tackled accurately, racked up good running metres and flashed a dangerous offload that will certainly open up tryscoring opportunities through the season.
Joel Mason
Burdekin, half
Few halves earn plaudits for their defensive work but Mason’s tackling when backed up against the goal line was a special effort.
There were several blocks of up to 10 minutes at a time where the Roosters were forced to defend their line and Mason was a popular target for opposition runners on the goal line.
He made the Magpies regret it, getting under the ribs of the larger opponents and driving them back in a rallying cry to his teammates.
Ethan Hagerty
Burdekin, backrow/centre
Shifted into the centres to limit the influence of a monstrous Magpies centre, Hagerty made a major impression in defence to shut his larger Fijian opponent out of the match.
Jesse Yallop
Centrals, centre
Yallop staved off a world-beating try from the Palm Island Barracudas with an incredible chase-down effort.
A chip-and-chase 10m out from the Barracudas’ line beat the Tigers’ first line of defence, leaving Yallop to gallop back some 40m to produce a try-saving tackle that bundled the runner into touch.
Yallop’s footwork through the middle of the field created havoc for the hosts and rounded out an impressive performance for the Blackhawks squad member.
Ethan Andrews
Centrals, winger
The 2022 A Grade back of the year came back to earth last season but is shaping up for a significant return to form in 2024.
An ill-fated stint at the Blackhawks sapped some of the confidence that underpinned Andrews’ meteoric rise but a strong pre-season at the Tigers has successfully restored it.
A stint at five-eighth against Palm Island showed sure signs that another busy tryscoring campaign is within his reach.
Clancy Kersh
Centrals, lock
The former Tigers club and A Grade captain has returned from a year of medical leave from rugby league to make an instant impact in the No.13 jersey.
Few would have guessed it had been 12 months since Kersh was last spotted in the Tiger stripes but his ballplaying has improved exponentially since the version time fans saw him play.
Kersh has slotted in seamlessly and even shocked coaches with how quickly he has shaken off the rust.
Trey Valentine, Mitch Brown, David Mills-Prior, Ben McLean and Nash Beck
Brothers, middle, halves, centre, halves and hooker
Coaches were pleased with the squad-wide effort against Cairns Brothers but the physicality of some of Brothers’ emerging stars is set to springboard several into the 17 for Round 1.
“The physicality of our young fellas, starting their careers against men, they all stood up,” coach Michael Parker-Walshe said.
“Trey Valentine was really good through the middle for us. He’s just had his 21st the other day. Mitch Brown was good.
“Nash Beck’s last year playing for Brothers with under-17s. He’s spent some time away from the boxing but the way he came back on Saturday, his first game back after two or three years, was really impressive.
“I thought our halves played well, coming from U19s football or reserve grade last year. They stood up and led the boys around the well.
“Most of those guys will certainly be in and around our Round 1 side.”
Addo Waianga
Western Lions, half
The Lions’ marquee recruit showed off the leadership skills that made his new club covet bringing the defending champion halfback to Heatley.
Waianga will drive standards at Western Lions and that was on display in Saturday’s trial win over Wests Mackay.
The playmaker delivered firm but necessary guidance to his younger teammates and brought his A+ kicking game.
Shaq Congoo
Western Lions, winger
Congoo has returned from a rugby league hiatus to join the club he once thrashed 80-nil while starring for Brothers.
Congoo scored one of Lions’ two tries against Wests Mackay and will form a potent combination with Jake Riley down the right edge.
Both tries were scored down that flank on Saturday and many more are expected to flow throughout 2024.
Daniel Buckland
Western Lions, prop
Is there a more underrated forward in the competition than the 2023 Western Lions co-captain?
Buckland would have been the captain of a national championship-winning Kirwan SHS outfit in 2019 if not for injury and that calibre of performance underpins his every involvement on the field.
While Buckland won’t run over many opponents, his ability to find his front in attack and execute in defence was all-class against the visitors.
Brayden Ross
Western Lions, prop
The flashier of Lions’ all-star prop pairing, Ross’ destructive carrying was a feature of his trial performance.
In wet and squelchy conditions there are few better at the club at tucking the ball under the wing and earning the toughest of metres.
Patrick Gallen
Souths Bulls, half
The Bulls’ new halfback took no time to pile the pain on his former club with a strong showing alongside veteran Shaun Nona.
Gallen took a backseat as halfback when paired with Nona, before taking on the role of dominant half.
“He played for Norths last year but didn’t play too much because of injury,” Bulls coach Mitch Grimes said.
“We got him with Mick Carroll – they’re sort of best mates who grew up together in Innisfail – so they sort of came as a package deal.
“He was definitely one of the standout performers. With Shauny Nona being a veteran we sort of didn’t play him a lot of minutes, so Patty had to take control and I thought he did that very well.”
Declan Dowson
Souths Bulls, fullback
Dowson scored seven tries in 2023 but could be set to take the next step in his playing career after a stunning trial performance.
“Declan had an absolute blinder of a game,” Grimes said.
“He just did not stop all night and turned up where he needed to be. He was very organised on his role and did it very well.”
Ethan Edwards
Norths, half
Edwards signed on to continue his 17-year stint at Norths and he will once again be pivotal to the club’s success.
A goalkicking half with a knack for reaching the tryline, Edwards scored eight tries last season and finished as the fourth-highest pointscorer despite his side having the equal-lowest points scored total.
Edwards was tough and crafty in the halves and played well against Souths.
Andrew Asi-Hunt Niemoeller
Norths, middle
Norths look to have an even bigger pack than last year and Niemoeller packed a heavy punch in the middle of the park.
He will be key in Norths’ pursuit of finals football this season.
Tyreece J Tonga
Norths, middle
Catching the eye with a few good carries up front, Tonga is part of a formidable pack that will leave plenty of A Graders bruised in 2024.
If Norths are to add to their three-win tally achieved last season they will need big shifts from their big men.
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