DDSWQ hunting back-to-back shields

A strong Darling Downs South West Queensland side has been named for this weekend’s Schaeffer Shield in Ipswich.

YOUNG GUN: DDSWQ coach Kent Reimers hopes Sam Neale can continue his hot form. Picture: Kevin Farmer

CRICKET: Darling Downs South West Queensland will be looking to add another trophy to their cabinet when lining up in this weekend’s Schaeffer Shield in Ipswich.

DDSWQ carries the title of defending champions heading into today’s second round fixtures, having ended a run of outs to defeat Southern Queensland in last year’s decider.

They come into the weekend in a strong position, with their T20 win over Wide Bay in the Bulls Master Challenge in Bundaberg last month counting towards competition points.

It puts them in a strong position along with Gold Coast, who defeated South East Queensland in Bundaberg.

Coach Kent Reimers said they have named a strong side in their quest for back-to-back victories.

“It’s a pretty strong side and there’s a good element of youth in there,” Reimers said.

“We’re relatively confident but not getting too excited with ourselves just year.

“We always take on extra young fella on the trip, this year who will be Ben Brocherie, to give them an opportunity to be a part of the set up and blood them into it.

“It gives them that opportunity to get them around the group and see what is required of them to be successful at this level.

“The likes of Kris Glass, Cameron Brimblecombe and Shaun McCarthy sadly won’t be around forever, so instead of not doing anything about it and have life after them rammed upon us, we want to give these young players an opportunity now.”

One of those young players making their mark is Western Districts all-rounder Sam Neale.

Fresh after a strong showing for DDBBL champions Livewired Lightning, Neale backed it up last week in the Harding-Madsen Shield with a knock of 125 runs.

“His batting talent has never been in dispute,” Reimers said.

“Sam has taken a lot of people by surprise with how big he has gotten in the off-season. He’s got no trouble finding the boundary.

“He has also improved his bowling and has gotten an extra length that makes him a legitimate all-rounder.”

DDSWQ begins its weekend today with a 50-over match against South East Queensland, before taking on the Gold Coast in an unconventional 45-over game to round out the weekend.

“We’ve had a fair bit of success against SEQ in recent times,” Reimers said.

“My expectation heading into Sunday is that our game against Gold Coast will be a literal grand final.

“In an ideal world we’d love to go back-to-back and hopefully get five players in the South Queensland Country team.

“It’s a little goal we’re working towards, we just need to not get ahead of ourselves and worry about what we’re doing in the moment.”

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