The annual Central Division 47th Battalion carnival is set to kick off in Yeppoon on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30.
Hosted by the Yeppoon Seagulls at the Barmaryee Sports Complex, the carnival is being held in the Capricorn region to coincide with the 100th season of Rockhampton Rugby League.
Commencing in 1971, the trophy is a magnificent memorial to the 47th Battalion Regiment, which has its headquarters in Maryborough, and draws together Rugby League personnel and members of the 47th Battalion in a spirit of cooperation and remembrance.
The original competition was started with Maryborough, Bundaberg, Gympie, South Burnett and Sunshine Coast competing, with Central Burnett given full membership in 1985.
With the formation of the new Central Division through the merger of the former Wide Bay, Central and South West Divisions, the senior competition was expanded in 2010 to include all Local Leagues in the new Central Division.
READ MORE ON THE HISTORY OF THE 47TH BATTALION
QRL Central Division Manager Glenn Ottaway said it was fantastic to take the event to Rockhampton for their centenary year and looked forward to doing the same in future years.
“It is fantastic that we are able to take the event to Rockhampton to coincide with their 100 year celebrations and we’ll do the same again next year in Toowoomba when they celebrate 100 years of competition,” Ottaway said.
“It is important for us to acknowledge such significant milestones in the game and 100 years of local league competition also means 100 years of volunteer effort to keep the game going.”
The format of the Men’s competition has changed this year with a plate pool introduced to join the pre-existing trophy pool and Ottaway believed this change would keep all teams ‘alive’ after day one.
“The change in the Men’s draw is simply to keep all teams alive going in to the second day of competition, as not only is there a plate final up for grabs - but all teams are also playing for ranking positions for the following year.”
Also, in an added boost for the Division and Women’s Rugby League, the female competition has expanded to include six teams; with Rockhampton and Gladstone splitting from the Central Queensland Capras to field stand-alone sides.
VIEW THE 2017 47TH BATTALION DRAW
For supporters who can’t attend the carnival, the games will be available at the click of a button.
In a first for the Division, all games on Field 1 will be live streamed online for supporters to watch and cheer on their favourite region. This will be in extension to the carnival being live scored online.
Team lists and further information regarding the live stream will be available closer to the carnival.
