Sunshine Coast Stingrays head coach Dan Atkins has revealed his standout players the SEQ tri-series competition

Sunshine Coast Stingrays head coach Dan Atkins has revealed his team’s outstanding performers as the battle to be crowned Queensland’s best continues. SEE THE FULL LIST

The Sunshine Coast Stingrays are out to prove once again why they can match it with Queensland’s best as they seek to win the South East Queensland Tri-Series rugby union competition.

After a dominant 47-17 win over Gold Coast on September 25 the Stingrays will now come up against Queensland Suburban on October 9 in the hopes of back to back wins.

Stingrays head coach Dan Atkins said he was impressed with the elite performances on display.

“Obviously being able to score nine tries in our opener was a massive positive, especially considering the short amount of preparation time we had,” he said.

“To be able to put some structures and patterns together off the back of two training sessions was a really good effort.”

The Sunshine Coast Stingrays men's team after defeating rivals Gold Coast 47-17.

Atkins said it had been a good inclusion-based team.

“We tried to make it as balanced as we could across all clubs and it’s been really good,” he said.

“I think there still are a lot of players out there that are noncommittal to this team due to a number of obvious reasons this year but there are a lot of players that collaborate and connect really well with each other.

“I’m proud to see how the team has come together and that’s a massive credit to our manager Brooke Te Huia and assistant coach Eugene Gerard.”

Atkins said there had been three players in particular who had performed above expectations.

Will Clift

Noosa Dolphins rugby union player Will Clift has been praised for his leadership within the Sunshine Coast Stingrays team. Picture: Jack Riddiford

“We made Will our captain and he was definitely a standout player against Gold Coast,” Atkins said.

“His leadership and calls he gave to the team was great and also the way he performed individually.

“He was really dominant at the lineout and just put together the set plays really well.”

Sami Vereniki

Caloundra Lighthouse rugby union player Sami Vereniki has been praised as a top finisher by his coach Dan Atkins. Picture: Adrian Bell

“Sami was waiting for the ball at all times and by us playing an edge to edge type of game he found a lot of it,” Atkins said.

“He has proven himself as a real finisher and his ability to find open space and score tries was awesome.”

Yvahn Allsworth

Noosa Dolphins rugby union player Yvahn Allsworth has relished the opportunity to play in the Sunshine Coast Stingrays open men's team. Picture: Jack Riddiford

“Yvahn is one of the younger players we brought into the squad and he was able to play 60 minutes from the back row, which was great,” Atkins said.

“He has exceptional diversity around the field and his work at the lineout was excellent.”

Originally published as Sunshine Coast Stingrays head coach Dan Atkins has revealed his standout players the SEQ tri-series competition