Toowoomba Junior Rugby League players shine at Vowles Cup

Revealed: From crafty halves to hard hitting forwards we name the Toowoomba Junior Rugby League stars of the Adrian Vowles Cup. Find out who cracked the list from your club here.

The Highfields U14 boys team went undefeated on their way to the Adrian Vowles Cup final.

Making the long trip west to Charleville for the Adrian Vowles Cup, Toowoomba Junior Rugby League teams proved they can match it with Queensland’s best recently.

A number of teams from the Darling Downs competition produced exceptional performances making finals and claiming trophies.

Here’s our look at some of the carnival highlights and star TJRL players of the cup.

Souths U13 Girls

Made it all the way to the final and can hold their heads high despite losing the decider.

Lining up with just 11 players, Souths were still strong against a red hot South Burnett side.

Souths U14 Boys Black

In a replay of the 2024 TJRL grand final, Souths beat Highfields 4-0 in the cup decider and conceded just one try all weekend.

Dalby

Dalby Devils president Brad Pott was delighted with his club’s efforts, ranking it as one of their most successful Adrian Vowles Cup campaigns with eight players selected in Dream Teams and both the U14s and U16s boys progressing through the round games undefeated.

The U14 boys only missed out on finals due to ‘for and against’ while the U16 boys advanced without conceding a point.

U14 girls coach Storm Egel was happy to see her team back on the park after winning the U13 TJRL premiership.

Highfields U17 Girls

The cup was the perfect opportunity for the Eagles to test a few of their rookies who all performed exceptionally well.

Star Players

Cooper Bidgood (Souths U14 Black)

After missing the end of last season with a badly broken arm, Cooper was a welcome addition to the team on and off the field.

Starting off the bench in the first game he went on to play almost every minute of the remainder of the carnival.

His physical presence in defence and when carrying the football mixed with the passing game gave the side great balance.

Taylor Wann (Souths U14 Black)

Lining up at centre Taylor had a breakout carnival despite still adjusting to his new position in the team.

Playing on the right edge his defence was near faultless and with the ball in hand he formed some nice combinations.

Scored the only try of the final.

Karter Denning (Souths U14 Black)

Karter stepped up to a pre-season challenge from his coach with aplomb.

Ran hard into the line all weekend setting up quick attacking plays.

The big front rower set the tone on the second day of the competition playing through injury and working hard.

Ryder Moore (Souths U14 Orange)

The skipper led by example and had a fantastic carnival.

Toiled away in the pack making plenty of tough runs.

Bobby Facer (Souths U14 Orange)

Stepped up from U13s and was a true inspiration.

The young front row got the attack rolling with quick play the balls and was brutal in defence.

Aiden Harper (Souths U14 Orange)

Ran the ball hard all weekend and was an inspiration to his teammates.

Did his best work in defence tackling and working hard.

Jake Kimmince (Souths U16)

The starting No. 9 was named Players’ Player of the Carnival.

His great vision, skills and leadership were key to the team’s success.

Henry McMillan (Souths U16)

Was immense at prop finishing the carnival with a Dream Team jersey.

He led from the front, kept the talk happening and worked hard from start to finish.

Brock Dawson (pictured in action for Western Clydesdales City) was a star for Souths in the Adrian Vowles Cup. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Brock Dawson (Souths U16)

Picked up a bunch of Players’ Player votes due to his control, vision, kicking game and work rate.

Hannah Nothdurft (Souths U13 Girls)

Made some great runs at fullback and looks primed for a big TJRL season.

Caedee Hunter (Souths U13 Girls)

Produced countless big plays and made some great tackles.

Amalie Kimmince (Souths U13 Girls)

Improved with every game and was a great player all-round.

Kaihli Wilson (Souths U13 Girls)

Pulled on the Tigers jersey to help out the team and her efforts were greatly appreciated.

A great runner, defender and read the game well.

Lewis Pott (Dalby U14)

Named best forward of the carnival and picked up a Dream Team jersey.

Lewis was a fierce competitor and top teammate who left nothing in the tank.

Aiden Deem (Dalby U14)

The young fullback was excellent in defence – reading the play well to get into position.

Made a number of great return runs and attacked the footy.

Konesetti Manisela (Dalby U14)

A hard running forward who gave his backs room to work in.

Konesetti made big metres in attack and forced errors with his brutal defence.

Lachlan Zahl (Dalby U14)

Had a big carnival at dummy half.

Passed the ball with accuracy, read the game well and was quick out of the play the ball area to get his team moving forward.

Dalby Devils rugby league young gun Travis Collins.

Travis Collins (Dalby U16)

The crafty hooker reads the game exceptionally well and made great metres down the blindside.

He was a solid defender in the middle and never shied away from making first contact.

Ned Laffy (Dalby U16)

The quiet achiever worked hard in defence in the forward pack.

Ran the ball hard and straight – consistently getting the job done in the middle.

Benji McCarthy in action for the Dalby Devils.

Benji McCarthy (Dalby U16)

Proved why he is a fitting captain playing with passion and pride.

Always in the thick of things he ran hard through the middle and made a number of crunching tackles when it mattered.

Pat Stenzel (Dalby U16)

Fantastic in the front and second row, Pat’s defence was tough and he was near the top of the tackle count in most games.

In attack he made big metres and broke down the opposition’s defence with his strong hit-ups.

Jaxon Taylor and Bobby Hardy Thompson (Dalby U16)

The duo made valuable contributions to the side and earned Dream Team jerseys.

Montaya Domjahn (Dalby U14 Girls)

Worked hard and played tough football.

Montaya put her hand up for the big runs and hit-ups all weekend and was hard to beat in defence.

Layla Jones (Dalby U14 Girls)

A young star on the rise she was hard to stop with the ball in hand due to her hard running and mobility.

A top attacking threat she also set the standard for sportsmanship and fair play.

Allie Egel in action for Dalby. Picture: contributed

Allie Egel (Dalby U14 Girls)

The halfback and skipper read the game expectionaly well and was among the best players in the cup.

Allie was named Best Back of the Carnival and a Dream Team jersey.

She moved the ball swiftly, was tireless in defence and made some amazing passes.

Charli Coleman (Dalby U17 Girls)

Playing in the halves and backline Charli was named Player of the Carnival.

Her touch footy skills were apparent throughout the weekend with her ability to spot and move into space well noted.

Miciah Dodd (Dalby U17 Girls)

Named Best Forward of the Carnival and Dalby MVP, Miciah’s workrate inspired her teammates and she was a fierce competitor all weekend.

Jessica Taylor (Dalby U17 Girls)

New to league, Jessica looked right at home in the forward pack running the ball well and diving into action at every opportunity.

Dalby draftees shine

Gatton stars Sophie Natalier and Hannah Sticklen joined Oakey Bears players Bailee Bennett, Leilani Greig and Paiten Greig in the Dalby U17 girls team for the cup.

Despite playing for a new team – all six girls made massive contributions all weekend.

Auckland Kilshaw (Oakey U16)

Playing in his first ever cup after switching England for Australia, Auckland made his mark at fullback.

He picked up two player of the match awards and was a solid performer all weekend.