Stars of senior and junior Rugby League Townsville and District preliminary finals revealed
Souths Bulls captain Shaun Nona steered his side to an emphatic comeback victory over the Miners on Sunday. Read what he had to say and see the top stars and every tryscorer from RLTD finals.
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Souths Bulls survived a first-half scare to beat Charters Towers 44-26 after a stunning comeback spurred by recently crowned Dr Rod Ward Medalist Shaun Nona.
Bulls captain Nona scored the lead-snatching try with 15 minutes to play after the Miners stunned the minor premiers with expansive ball movement to take a 26-10 lead into the break.
RLTD’s best back of 2024 Declan Dowson was a notable omission for the Bulls with Patrick Gallen shifting to fullback and young gun Xavier Hellyer playing five-eighth.
Nona said it was an overwhelming feeling of relief and excitement that washed over him at full time.
“There was a bit of pressure on us going into the game after the year we’ve had,” Nona said.
“But I thought for 60 minutes of that game we were pretty much in control. Obviously Towers had a lot of ball and possession in the last 20 minutes of that first half but it was good to come away with the win.
“The halftime chat was quite positive. We were confident that if we got our share of the ball we’d be able to put points on, and we did which was lucky.”
Miners fullback Blake Heitmann opened the scoring with an incredible surging run from 25 metre out, beating five tackles on his way to the line just three minutes in.
The teams had traded blows through the early stages before backrower Joshua Abbott helped his team take the ascendancy with two tries as the Charters Towers right edge went to another level.
But it was a different story after halftime as the Bulls charged into the grand final with 34 unanswered points as they enjoyed the wealth of possession.
Souths levelled the game at 26-all with 25 minutes to play before the Miners found some grit and kept the Bulls scoreless for a 10-minute period.
That’s when Nona put his team on his shoulders, dummying to evade an Abbott tackle and dashing to the line to put his team ahead, saluting the strong Bulls contingent at the southern end of Jack Manski Oval.
With the wind in their sails the Bulls were able to score twice more through Gallen and Jordon Ah-One-Remfrey.
Souths will play Western Lions in the A-grade decider next Sunday.
Nona said his side would need to match the Lions’ intensity if they wanted to claim a historic win.
“They’ve had the week off to freshen up and I’m expecting them to be at their best,” Nona said.
“They got the better of us two weeks ago and we’re still a little salty from that, but we have learnt not to take them lightly and we’ll be at our best come Sunday.”
SOUTHS BULLS: 44 (Tajshon Messa-Santo (2), Michael Carroll, Xavier Hellyer, Joshua Williams, Shaun Nona, Patrick Gallen, Jordon Ah-One-Remfrey tries; Shaun Nona (6) goals)
CHARTERS TOWERS: 26 (Blake Heitmann,Joshua Abbott (2), Joshua Radford, Logan Brookes tries; Ryan Kinsey, Assariah Lenoy Sam (2) goals)
Centrals will play the Western Lionesses in the battle of the big cats next week after dismantling the Burdekin Hens 30-14 in the women’s preliminary final.
Tigers captain Jordii Mahendrarajah was instrumental in the victory with two tries and Burdekin simply couldn’t keep up with the firepower of Centrals.
Centrals and Western Lions were the women’s frontrunners all season and Sunday’s grand final is already shaping as a blockbuster.
The two teams have faced each other twice this year and the series is split one-all.
CENTRALS WOMEN: 30 (Jenna Poole, Jairel-Ellen Martin-Savage, Jordii Mahendrarajah (2), Samara Luta, Rebecca Sleigh tries; Sari Ericson (2), Janaye Williams goals)
BURDEKIN WOMEN: 14 (Abby King, Tiarna Krutzfeldt, Taheisha Bulgarelli tries; Tiarna Krutzfeldt goal)
Burdekin five-eighth Dylan Doak’s boot was the only thing that could split the Roosters and Bowen Seagulls in the reserve grade competition, kicking his side to a 16-14 win.
Both teams crossed for three tries but it was the Roosters who finished ahead with Doak’s goals proving the difference.
Burdekin will play Souths in next week’s reggies decider.
BURDEKIN RESERVES: 16 (Caleb Noah, Hayden Lammon, Tate Brombal tries; Dylan Doak (2) goals)
BOWEN RESERVES: 14 (Dylan Ruddick, Cygnet Tamwoy, Karmon Power tries; Michael Percy goal)
Souths Bulls and Centrals played out a 68-point thriller in the under-20s competition and it was the Tigers who eventually pulled away to claim 40-28 victory.
Three Centrals players crossed for doubles – Jayden McMinn, Mason Saltner and Frank Backo – while Darius Carter and Jack Bragg each scored twice for Souths.
Souths had claimed the minor premiership following an undefeated season but were bundled out of finals in straight sets with back to back losses to Brothers and Centrals.
Centrals play Brothers next Sunday.
CENTRALS U20: 40 (Jayden McMinn (2), Mason Saltner (2), Frank Backo (2), Luke Kindey, not available tries; Cody Sadler (3), Joseph Sale goals)
SOUTHS U20: 28 (Quentin Parker Richards, Darius Carter (2), Jack Bragg (2) tries; Quentin Parker Richards (2), Bailey-James Parker Richards (2) goals)
*The A-Grade final between Souths Bulls and the Charters Towers Miners was played late on Sunday afternoon and this story will be updated on Monday
JUNIOR WRAPS
The Burdekin Roosters are through to the RLTD under-18s grand final after beating the Abergowrie Warriors 14-10 on Saturday.
Burdekin centre Jahi Starr scored twice to keep his side ahead in the battle of the two country teams, earning the right to play Brothers next week.
BURDEKIN U18: 14 (Kane Batchelor Jahi Starr (2) tries; Luca Lago goal)
WARRIORS U18: 10 (Franklin Mye, Leonard Moses-Tabuai tries; Meshack David goal)
Kirwan Bears halfback Riley Carbone had an easier time playing with Centrals’ under-16s team against the Bowen Seagulls than he did in the Queensland schoolboys final just days earlier, scoring a try in the Tigers’ 24-10 triumph.
Captain Carbone combined with a number of his school’s year 10 Cowboys Challenge players including Barry Brimelow and Bailey Heilbronn – who each crossed the chalk.
Bowen’s captain Byron Piggott also got on the scoresheet with a nice try but it wasn’t enough to steer his side to victory.
Centrals will play Brothers Blue in the grand final.
CENTRALS U16: 24 (Cornell Moncrieff, Barry Brimelow, Bailey Heilbronn, Callum Scott, Riley Carbone tries; Aston Smith (2) goals)
BOWEN U16: 10 (Byron Piggott, Xavier Dotoi tries; Gausa Dau goal)
The under-16s girls’ preliminary final was forfeited by Charters Towers, leaving the Upper Ross Rams to advance to next week’s grand final with the Western Lionesses.
A Miners official said the team had trouble garnering the numbers to play this week and was forced to pull out of the contest.
UPPER ROSS RAMS win by forfeit
The Western Lions Pride advanced to the under-15 Cowboys Cup final with a 22-10 triumph over Souths Bulls Red.
Lions backrower Hayden Bamford scored 14 of his team’s points with a tryscoring double and three conversions.
The Lions will play the Palm Island Barracudas next Saturday.
LIONS PRIDE U15: 22 (Hayden Bamford (2), Eru Gunn-James, Polaiap Kepa tries; Hayden Bamford (3) goals)
SOUTHS RED U15: 10 (Jacob Peachey, Tamiana Fatiaki tries; Malakai Martin goal)
Brothers Blue came out on top of an 11-try thriller with Charters Towers, ultimately finishing ahead 32-22.
Brothers were forced to defend the final stages with 12 men after Sonny Gibson was sin-binned, but the Fish were able to hold out their opposition and even score a try through fullback Jaden Jones while understrength.
Brothers will play the Upper Ross Rams in the Blackhawks Cup decider.
BROTHERS BLUE U15: 32 (Bosse Nshizirungu, Aiden Stedman, Zachery Vaughan (2), Jaden Jones (2), Calum Gardiner tries; Clancy Heuir (2) goals)
CHARTERS TOWERS U15: 22 (Travis Hughes, Will Cursio, not available (2) tries; Hayden Macor (3) goals)
Souths Red beat Brothers White 24-14 in a tough under-14s Cowboys Cup preliminary final showdown as centre Marley Milbourne stole the show with two tries.
Brothers were able to stabilise after the break and managed to win the second half 10-8 but the Souths lead built in the first was enough to see them through to play Western Lions Pride in the grand final.
SOUTHS RED U14: 24 (Harper Jensen, Marley Milbourne (2), Arj Cheesewright, Aston Simms tries; Kade Maloney (2) goals)
BROTHERS WHITE U14: 14 (Nate Guazzo, Cooper Brown, Tyhler Chilby tries; Patrick Fanning goal)
The Upper Ross Rams took the spoils in a high-octane under-14s Blackhawks Cup final against Brothers Blue, holding on for a 38-24 victory.
Three players crossed for tryscoring doubles: Rams fullback Norman-Samuel Baker and halfback Owen Massey, as well as Brothers backrower Ollie Jamieson.
Brothers centre Kalolo Sagato was perfect with the boot, successfully kicking all four of his conversion attempts.
RAMS U14: 28 (Norman-Samuel Baker (2), Owen Massey (2), McKenzie Caulton, Tynyn Dawson tries; Owen Massey, Dominique Collett goals)
BROTHERS BLUE U14: 24 (Oliver Jamieson (2), Ethan Smith, Cohen Russell tries; Kalolo Sagato (4) goals)
The under-14 Western Lionesses will play Souths in the girls’ grand final after beating Bowen Seagulls 26-14.
Barnstorming lock Mezmerize Siulai-Matiaha scored a hat-trick for the winning side as the minor premiers flexed their muscles in a six tries to three showing.
LIONESSES U14: 26 (Mezmerize Siulai-Matiaha (3), Teshaylia Tanna, Tisharlah Marou, Chloe Lane tries; Teshaylia Tanna goal)
BOWEN U14: 14 (Taleisa Savelio (2), Megan Daniel-Anau tries; Trinity Blake goal)
The Western Lions Pride under-13s were too strong for the Bowen Seagulls, claiming an emphatic 28-6 triumph in the Cowboys Cup.
Tyrell Patterson and Jeremey Smallwood each scored doubles to cement the Pride’s place in next week’s under-13s Cowboys Cup grand final against Souths Bulls.
LIONS PRIDE U13: 28 (Phoenix Moncrieff, Tyrell Petterson (2), Jeremey Smallwood (2), Kingston Bowman tries; Lachlan Cresswell, Joshua Gibuma goals)
BOWEN U13: 6 (Lincoln Douglas try; Nathaneil Brown-Stretton)
The Burdekin Roosters were unstoppable in the Blackhawks Cup under-13s preliminary final, scoring 12 tries in a 60-0 rout of the Western Lions Roar.
Burdekin backrower Colten Lyne crossed for a hat-trick in the tryscoring bonanza and he will look to continue his run of good form next week against the Charters Towers Miners.
BURDEKIN U13: 60 (Angus Watson, Timothy Cervoni (2), Colten Lyne (3), Jai Flynn, not available, Cooper Webster (2), Jax Lammon, Chase Power tries; Perry Munro (6) goals)
LIONS ROAR U13: 0
Originally published as Stars of senior and junior Rugby League Townsville and District preliminary finals revealed
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