TRL Clydesdales routed in XXXX League Championship semi-final

A second half capitulation saw the TRL Clydesdales unable to emulate their winning ways, going down to Brisbane Red at the weekend. Read what happened here.

Matthew Christensen for the Clydesdales. Toowoomba Clydesdales. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Down by only two points at the half, the TRL Clydesdales were blown away by Brisbane Red at home on Saturday.

Eager to follow-up the heroics of their 47th Battalion victory, the Clydesdales were outclassed and out enthused by a rampaging Brisbane Red.

Putting together an incredible opening 40 minutes, the Clydesdales valiantly fended off the relentless attacking waves of Brisbane, and even managed to snag some points of their own.

However, the second half was a polar opposite affair.

Out of the gates, Brisbane scored from their first attacking set, against a Clydesdales outfit that looked like they were still enjoying their halftime break.

Following the first try, the flood gates soon opened.

Brisbane scored seven second half tries to win 46-14, booking a grand final berth in the process.

Matthew Christensen for the Clydesdales. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“The result was definitely disappointing,” dejected Clydesdales back-rower Jackson Shelswell said.

“We put in that (good) effort all season and during the training camps, with help from the coaching staff, so it’s disappointing that we let them and ourselves down.”

Reflecting on the poor second half, the backrower put it down to the class of their opponent.

“I don’t really know what happened there (second half),” he said.

“They just came out and outplayed us, they put together some great footy out there.

“We definitely turned up for one another and put in the effort, and that’s all you can ask for at the end of the day, we just were outplayed I guess.

“At the end of the day, it’s a great experience for us to play against such a strong team and players that we wouldn’t often come up against.”

Clydesdales coach Col Speed had similar thoughts to his number 11, but also acknowledged that his team didn’t have the opportunity to play the free-flowing footy they wanted to.

“I’m not disappointed with that performance, I think that the time frame of when the game was played has a big role to play in the outcome,” Speed said.

“We were on the back of a 17 to 5 penalty count which didn’t help us.

Dylan Chown for the Clydesdales. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Geoffrey Prince for the Clydesdales. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“So to defend that much, and obviously when you don’t have the ball, there really isn’t much that you can do.

“We are an ad lib footy team and like to play off the back of what’s in front of us, as opposed to playing a very structured style of game.

“All in all, I was proud of them and the way that they hung in there.

The coach also made note of the questionable scheduling of the game and expressed his grievances surrounding the double-up with representative and club footy.

“The mental aspect of the game was also a huge contributing factor,” Speed said.

“Brisbane had the luxury of knowing that they were going into a bye round.

“We’ve got a double up.

“A lot of us, including myself, have got to head to our club games now, I’m not sure how this wasn’t thought about, because the welfare of the players should come first.”

Of the 17 players that took the field for the Clydesdales, at least seven of them backed up a couple of hours later with many having to commute back out west or down south.

Just hours after playing for the Clydesdales, Dalby Diehards fullback Chris Woodbride backed up (in Dalby) scoring four tries and kicking seven from the spot.