Innisfail backs Billy’s Maroons, Why Edmonton Storm lost points
Billy Slater will have his troops primed to overcome the loss of their best player and seal a debut Origin series win, according to two fellow Innisfail legends and the Cassowary Coast mayor.
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BILLY Slater will have his troops primed and ready to overcome the loss of their best player and seal a debut State of Origin series win, according to two fellow Innisfail rugby league legends.
Former Maroons great Kerry Boustead, who was famously plucked out of Innisfail to represent Queensland and Australia and scored the first try in Origin history in 1980, believes Slater can mastermind a Maroons series win without five-eighth and their best player in Game I, Cameron Munster.
The Melbourne maestro will miss the Suncorp Stadium decider after contracting Covid, with reborn Cowboys playmaker Tom Dearden to step into the Origin cauldron for his Maroons debut.
But if anyone can rally the troops, Boustead said Slater can.
“Billy can motivate them,” Boustead said.
“I know he has the capability to do it, he just needs the players to respond.
“It will be tough for them.
“Queensland was looking really good in that first game, but they dropped their bundle a bit (in Perth).
“Munster did a lot of the damage in that first game so it’s going to be a lot tougher.”
Three-time Maroons representative Ty Williams, who will coach the Northern Pride when they play in his home town of Innisfail this Saturday, believes Slater will have the team primed.
“Playing a series decider at Suncorp Stadium in front of50,000 fans, the boys won’t need too much motivation,” Williams said.
“Now we’ve lost Munster and Muz (winger Murray Taulagi), they won’t give us much of a chance.
“But I’m sure Billy and the boys down there will have them primed.”
Slater did it all as a player. , revolutionising the fullback position throughout his playing career. He played 323 games for the Storm, 31 Origins for the Maroons and 30 caps for Australia, Slater earned two Clive Churchill Medals, the Dally M Medal, and the 2008 Golden Boot as the world’s best footballer.
This year, he’s stepped into the high-pressure role of Maroons coach having not held a head coaching role before, and with the series poised at 1-1 he is approaching his most important role.
And Boustead believes Slater’s calm and calculated approach will be the difference.
“He’s not a (Craig) Bellamy or (Ricky) Stuart who loves to blow up every few seconds,” Boustead said.
“He’s more calculated than that. They have different styles of coaching.
“He’s not going to go in and tear strips off the players, it’s not the way he operates.
“That style doesn’t work well in Origin. They don’t need to be yelled at, they just need to be reminded of their job.”
CELEBRATION SET IF MAROONS WIN
A community celebration will be held at Billy Slater Oval if the Maroons can seal an Origin series win.
“Let me assure you should Queensland pull off a miracle without our strike weapon Munster our council will be celebrating the Origin series with a community celebration at Billy Slater Oval,” Cassowary Coast mayor Mark Nolan texted.
Cr Nolan worked with the Maroons coach’s grandfather Bill at South Johnstone Sugar Mill, and grew up in South Johnstone with Slater’s dad Ron and uncles Tom and John.
MAROONS TO REPRESENT COMMUNITIES
KURT Capewell might become Billy Slater’s favourite player if he can steer the Maroons to victory.
Capewell will represent Innisfail in the State of Origin decider, with the Broncos forward to wear the Slater’s home town’s postcode on his sleeve.
XXXX and QRL worked with Maroons players such as Capewell, Felise Kaufusi, and Ben Hunt to help select towns to best represent the QLD community at large.
While it was tough to shortlist 17 postcodes from 895 postcodes in Queensland, they wanted to focus on some of the smaller communities that are close to players’ hearts.
“I’m proud to be repping Innisfail on the field for Game 3,” said Charleville product Capewell.
“It was a really moving experience during the last game to have worn my own hometown on my sleeve, so I hope to be able to share that pride with the community of Innisfail on Wednesday night.”
Cairns Kangaroos junior Jeremiah Nanai will wear Moranbah’s postcode.
“It’s a great opportunity for our team to shine the spotlight on these communities and show love for the towns that give us so much support,” Nanai said.
BROTHERS OVERCOME IMPROVED YARRABAH
A NICHOLAS Harrold hat trick and Falcon Peni’s perfect boot has helped Brothers snap a two-game slide and bounce back into the winner’s circle at the expense of Yarrabah.
The under-fire Seahawks have been put under the microscope in recent weeks due to a series of issues on and off the field, with lengthy suspensions and physical crowd disagreements among a raft of concerns held by the league.
Several FNQ Rugby League and Queensland Rugby League officials met with the Seahawks in the past fortnight, while the QRL’s Positive Environment Program has received plenty of attention as the governing bodies sought to clean up the game.
Given how their last clash ended, Brothers’ road trip to Yarrabah was a test. When the Seahawks travelled to Stan Williams Park on June 5, the game was called off early amid rising tensions on and off the field.
A fight which stemmed from Yarrabah half Coleridge Dabah’s hit on Brothers fullback Lachlan Biondi-Odo, which blew out into a full squad melee (and resulted in the sin binning of the wrong Brothers player, who was nowhere near the action) and the game was cut short minutes later.
Repeat Set has been told Sunday’s games at Jilara Oval were played without incident, with not one Yarrabah player cited in recent weeks.
It’s a brilliant result for not only the defending premier A-grade side, but the club and community.
They couldn’t stop Brothers from securing victory on Sunday however, with Harrold’s hat trick and Peter Tuccandidgee delivering a much-needed win for the Brethren.
WHY STORM WERE DOCKED 12 COMPETITION POINTS
Two of the three former Edmonton Storm juniors pictured below had a run for the club’s A-grade side this year - it’s cost the club 12 competition points and given them the wooden spoon, and resulted in a show cause notice.
The Cairns District Rugby League A-grade competition’s wooden spoon has already been decided, but the players on the field didn’t have the final say in the matter.
Edmonton’s 2-10 record hasn’t helped them in the slightest this season but the Storm will finish a long way last after copping three separate four-point deductions related to player selection.
Northern Pride Colts gun Hamish Davies was at the centre of the first four-point deduction, as the Storm junior played for Edmonton without an appropriate registration earlier this year.
Hooker Davies was a late exclusion for the Pride so the Storm rushed the young star into their squad.
In previous years, league staff have pushed player clearances through on weekends, but that wasn’t the case for Edmonton, who dropped to -4 on the points table.
The Storm’s form on the field improved but they struggled to get results, with just the two wins, including the shock scalp of top five side Ivanhoes on Saturday.
But they have fallen foul of registration rules again, with another Storm junior playing for his home town club when it was not approved by the league.
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Talented playmaker James Frazer is understood to be at the centre of this issue, with the young five-eighth getting valuable experience playing against Innisfail and Mossman-Port Douglas in successive weeks.
Edmonton lost both, but the FNQ Rugby League said the team had played a 17-year-old in A-grade without dispensation.
Now an Ipswich State High School star who played for the Jets’ Mal Meninga Cup side, Frazer was a top talent coming through the ranks at Edmonton and is quickly developing into a premier playmaker with a big future in the game.
Repeat Set understands no application was made to the FNQRL, and with Frazer playing two games for the Storm, that means two breaches with a four-point penalty have applied.
That drops the Storm to -6 points on the table, 12 behind 10th-placed Mareeba, and with only 14 possible points left they have all but claimed the wooden spoon.
Edmonton have been issues a show cause notice by the FNQRL and are expected to meet with the league on Thursday night.
NORTHERN PRIDE RETURNS TO INNISFAIL
NORTHERN Pride will return to Innisfail for the first time in seven years when they take on Wynnum-Manly Seagulls at Callendar Park.
The Pride played three games at Innisfail from 2013 to 2015, with one win – a 24-22 triumph against Norths in 2014, the year they won the premiership and inaugural NRL State Championship.
A win would cap a great week for the town given it's the home of coach Ty Williams and Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater, especially if the Maroons get the job done in Wednesday’s decider at Suncorp Stadium.
CAMPAGNOLO RETURNS TO THE NO.9
HE WAS signed as a five-eighth but Jack Campagnolo has returned to hooker for his past two games for South Sydney in the NSW Cup.
Campagnolo came through the Northern Pride in the halves, and while he played in that role in the Queensland Cup he spent a fair amount of time at hooker too.
He moved to Wynnum-Manly in 2021 where he starred, taking out the Hostplus Cup five-eighth of the year as he helped steer the Seagulls to the grand final.
His consistent performances led to a contract with the Bunnies, and the Tully product wore the cardinal and myrtle’s No.6 when Souths took on the Cowboys in a preseason clash at Barlow Park.
During that visit, Campagnolo said he wanted to wear either the No.6 or No.7 jersey this year.
After 13 starts at five-eighth, Campagnolo was shifted to hooker to accommodate the returning Blake Taaffe, who was bumped out of the NRL squad after Latrell Mitchell’s return at fullback.
The call, while understandable, robbed Far North league fans of a Tully derby in the No.6 jerseys, as Jake Clifford steered the Knights to a 26-14 win at Newcastle.
matthew.mcinerney1@news.com.au
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