Walters Cup, Langer Trophy live stream: Caloundra SHS look for first win at in-form Keebra Park

Caloundra have earned a few more admirers after a brave performance, but in the end the understrength side from the Sunny Coast was no match for Keebra Park. Watch the REPLAYS.

A brave first-half effort from an understrength Caloundra outfit wasn’t enough to contain the dominance of Langer trophy heavyweights Keebra Park as they secured a 36-6 round four victory and position themselves near the top of the table.

The ground fell silent once more pre-game with both sides joining arms and holding a minute silence following the tragic passing of Caloundra SHS player Benjamin ‘BJ’ Hunter over the school holidays.

Replay: Langer Trophy Round 4 - Keebra Park v Caloundra

Caloundra found themselves without captain and halfback Tully McLellan for this match but some good early play from hooker Teina Maote had the visitors finding their feet and it only took four minutes before prop forward Brad Higgins crashed over to open the scoring.

A great individual kick return from the left winger Zyroam Tarawa-Herlihy put Keebra in a great attacking position before some good link-up play between Zac Kumbamong and Ryder Williams levelled the match at 6-6.

Keebra then broke the deadlock just before halftime with both sides experiencing their fair share of attacking footy in the opening 30 minutes.

Some powerful running from Keebra prop Dorian Lotaki put the home side on the front foot and that was enough for Tarawa-Herlihy to find the corner post off the back of a well-worked backline play.

Keebra Park halfback Ryder Williams continued his impressive month of football with a strong showing against Caloundra State High. Picture: Evan Morgan

A wonderful cutout pass from Keebra halfback Ryder Williams helped find Tarawa-Herlihy with some room to move before diving over and scoring his second try of the afternoon.

A chirpy away crowd seemed to fuel the fire for Williams who stepped up and slotted his second conversion of the match from the lefthand touchline.

After 10 minutes in the second half and the scoreline 24-6, Caloundra finally found some momentum with the footy but it ultimately wasn’t enough to stop some fancy footwork from Keebra fullback Mason Barber which extended the scoreline 30-6.

With less than five minutes remaining a 50m individual break away from Williams saw him find his name on the scoresheet and arguably cement a man-of-the-match performance.

Walters Cup wrap

It might’ve taken them until the second half to find their groove against Caloundra but Keebra Park’s dominant forward pack showed their class for the schoolboy heavyweights to pick up a convincing 40-8 win in round four of the Walters Cup.

The afternoon began with a minute silence in respect for Caloundra SHS rugby league talent Benjamin ‘BJ’ Hunter who tragically lost his life after being struck by a car over the school holidays.

Replay: Walters Cup Round 4 - Keebra Park v Caloundra

Once the match was underway Keebra were their own worst enemy early, unable to complete attacking sets and giving away a number of unwanted penalties.

After good forward momentum, Caloundra five-eight Ellyjah Birve put through a smart grubber for the visitors to grab the afternoon’s first points.

After spraying the conversion attempt wide, Keebra Park quickly capitalised through a smart short-side try out of dummy half.

A ‘push and shove’ scuffle saw one Keebra player sent to the sin bin but that wasn’t enough to stop their quick-thinking hooker who burst through a scattered Caloundra defensive line to extend the score to 12-4 at halftime.

Repeat attacking sets for Keebra Park allowed them to score a well-worked team try in the left-hand corner before they began to pile on the score with another two quick breakaway four-pointers.

The boys in blue held a solid 28-4 lead before some more well-skilled ball movement from the Keebra Park forwards was too much to handle for the Caloundra right edge.

With the ball possession remaining in Keebra Park’s favour for the majority of the second half, it was a stunning 90m intercept try from Caloundra’s Ellyjah Brive that helped the visitors grab their second try of the evening.

Preview: Caloundra search for first win of the Langer Trophy

It’s been a tough introduction to the big time for Caloundra SHS.

The first school from the Sunshine Coast to compete in the prestigious south east Queensland schoolboys rugby league competition, Caloundra have run into some pretty formidable opponents, conceding 114 points in three games while only scoring 26 themselves.

And their search for a first win doesn’t get any easier on Thursday when they travel to the Gold Coast to face schoolboy heavyweights Keebra Park SHS.

Catch the game LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV as part of a Walters Cup/Langer Trophy double header. Check the round three details below for full details.

And they will be playing with a heavy heart after the tragic death of their friend and teammate Ben ‘BJ’ Hunter following his tragic death during the school holidays.

The former Caloundra SHS, Nambour Crushers, Sunshine Coast Falcons and Melbourne Storm Academy player was sadly hit by a car while walking home from the gym on June 25.

Sunshine Coast junior clubs paid their respects to Hunter and his family with numerous vigils while the Melbourne Storm wore black armbands for their match against the Penrith Panthers in round 18.

After two away defeats at Wavell and PBC to start their campaign, Caloundra fell to a loss in front of their home fans their most recent clash against Marsden.

Caloundra head coach Toby Poole said before that game that the competition was a real eye-opener for his players.

Langer Trophy captains Wailer Whaiapu (Keebra Park) and Tully McLellan (Caloundra).

“Something that’s new for these guys is maintaining that high intensity for the full match as they don’t get exposed to that a whole lot on the Sunshine Coast,” he said.

They have two more games to look forward to at home against Mabel Park and Redcliffe later this month and into the early days of August mixed in with another away trip, this time to Ipswich.

Keebra have scored the most points of any teams in the competition while conceding just four more than the undefeated Marsden SHS.

They have mixed in two positive results, including an opening round battering of national champions Ipswich, with a tight defeat against Marsden.

They bounced back in a big way last round with a 46-6 victory over Redcliffe SHS and tend to make the most of their home ground advantage.

Originally published as Walters Cup, Langer Trophy live stream: Caloundra SHS look for first win at in-form Keebra Park