Wide Bay Bulls U18 coach praises Mitchell Sly, Ezekiel Monckton

Wide Bay Bulls under-18’s coach Shaun Hobson was full of praise for his young charges after they ran the Sunshine Coast Falcons close at Salter Oval on Sunday.

27/03/2023 - Ezekiel Monckton was a standout for the Wide Bay Bulls Meninga Cup team. Picture: supplied

Wide Bay Bulls under-18’s coach Shaun Hobson was full of praise for his young charges after they ran the Sunshine Coast Falcons close at Salter Oval, Bundaberg on Sunday.

The Bulls, who had lost 58-20 to the Coast team in Kawana in round 3 of the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup, this time only went down 26-32, with the visitors scoring two tries in the last few minutes to break Bulls’ hearts.

In fact, were it not for a disallowed try in the last two minutes, the Bulls could have drawn level with their more fancied opponents after a super display from the team.

"It would have been great to get the win and it was disappointing that the players did not get rewarded for the effort they put in," Hobson said.

"But we have been building towards performances like this and the boys were really pleased afterwards.

"They know that they now can compete with the best teams out there when they put in their best efforts.

"There was tremendous character shown by the boys too," Hobson added.

27/03/2023 - Ezekiel Monckton was a standout for the Wide Bay Bulls Meninga Cup team. Picture: supplied

"We were without Tom Morcom, who is our Broncos contracted player, and Adam Kahn, who is contracted to the Queensland Reds.

"Jamal Nelson, who’s our best forward, and Bodie Dwight, who is probably our best defender, were also out.

"We were probably without four of our best players. Sunny Coast were down a couple of pretty good ones as well, but from a Wide Bay perspective, having probably our best players missing and to still get that close, we’re extremely proud of the guys."

Major police sting exposes Bundy duo’s alleged child sex offences

Hobson picked out some players who stood out in the close defeat.

"Mitchell Sly was was absolutely phenomenal," the coach said.

"He was amazing. He was everywhere in both attack and defence.

"He was the best player on the field, I would say, by quite a margin.

27/03/2023 - Adam Khan was one of a number of key players missing for the Wide Bulls Meninga Cup side on Sunday. Picture: supplied

"Our half-back Ezekiel Monckton was also awesome and our hooker Fletcher Prendergast did a really good job."

Joseph Doyle also stood out, scoring a try double, while Sly, Prendergast and Ryan Bugeja, also scored tries.

In the Cyril Connell Challenge, the under-16 Bulls also ran the Sunshine Coast Falcons close in a 22-18 defeat.

Tries were scored by Kev Weribone, Preston Walsh and Lukas Blair.

In the Harvey Norman u19 women’s game, the Bulls lost 52-4 but Hobson said he and the coach Geteno George were proud of the players’ efforts.

"People measure success by wins," Hobson said.

"But two weeks ago, we unfortunately had to forfeit because of lack of depth and injuries, but we put 19 girls out on a field last weekend and this weekend.

Get the kids out of here! Moment family fled home in midst of explosive fireball

"That’s what success looks like as well."

The Bulls games were played as curtain raisers for the first round of matches of the Bundaberg Rugby League season.

Hobson said there was a pretty good crowd for the Bulls matches and they showed their appreciation for the teams’ efforts.

"The under-18s had a great reception," he said.

"They were applauded by the crowd for their efforts as they walked off.

"Yes it would have been lovely to have won, but we have certainly come a long way in a short space of time and then as a region in the three years that we’ve been involved with it, there’s definite improvements. Can we get better? Absolutely, we can. but there’s definitely improvements."

Originally published as Wide Bay Bulls U18 coach praises Mitchell Sly, Ezekiel Monckton