It was a wonderful finish to the regular season with the top six places not decided until the last few minutes of the round.
Valleys sewed up the minor premiership with a tough win over Wattles whilst Gatton and Souths will have to play each other again in a Wednesday night playoff after Souths snuck into the finals race with a win over the Hawks on Saturday.
Goondiwindi Boars v Oakey Bears
Goondiwindi finished off their season in style win a convincing win over Oakey at Gilberts Oval on Saturday night.
The Boars showed off their young talent coming through in front of a huge crowd.
The first 20 minutes was a torrid affair with hardly any mistakes.
Goondiwindi just wore Oakey down but the Bears were gallant in defeat.
Young Will Carter and Tom Halford were Goondiwindi’s best whilst Dylan and Jason Crump never gave up.
Amazingly, in each grade Goondiwindi scored exactly 50 points and it was almost the same score line in each grade.
A GRADE: Goondiwindi 50 (Will Carter 3, Thomas Halford 2, Levi Wilson 2, Carl Clement, Ronnie David tries; Tom Fitzgerald 5, John Goodfellow 2 goals) defeated Oakey 16 (Ezzard Beard, Hector Hilberto, Jeremy Long tries; Dylan Crump, Jason Lucas goals)
RESERVE GRADE: Goondiwindi 50 defeated Oakey 16
UNDER 18: Goondiwindi 50 defeated Oakey 20
WATCH: TRL Media speaking with Goondiwindi Boars coach Scott Schultz.
Brothers Leprechauns v Dalby Diehards
Corey Blades returned to the field for Dalby and made his presence felt with a three-try effort in Dalby’s big win over Brothers on Saturday night at Glenhome Park.
Alex Ambia and fellow winger Shaun Wickham scored doubles for the Diehards.
Danny Wassell warmed up for finals with an excellent individual effort whilst Mitch Taylor and Zac Morris also played well for the Diehards.
Marcus Cochrane, Tom Ramsay and Ricky Davies toiled hard for Brothers in their final game of the year.
A GRADE: Dalby 74 (Corey Blades 3, Alex Ambia 2, Shaun Wickham 2, Dan Manley, Xavier Manley, Zac Morris, Dylan Taylor, Jason Wardrop, Danny Wassell tries; Zac Morris 11 goals) defeated Brothers 8 (Kyle Walker, Brad Brown tries)
RESERVE GRADE: Dalby 46 defeated Brothers 16
UNDER 18: Dalby 56 defeated Brothers 8
SECOND DIVISION: Dalby 48 defeated Brothers 22
Gatton Hawks v Southern Suburbs Tigers
Souths snuck into this year’s TRL finals race with a nail-biting win over Gatton at Cahill Park Sporting Complex.
Gatton held a slender 30-28 lead with under five minutes after Souths led 28-14 early in the second half.
The excitement reached fever pitch when Callum Woolacott converted Tye Gray’s try from the sideline to take the lead.
Unfortunately, the Hawks could not hold on when Souths’ “Mr Dependable”, Kyle Athorn scored with three minutes remaining.
It’s an amazing result given it was at Gatton’s home ground and only a month ago Souths only had a slim chance of making the finals.
The Tigers were more desperate than Gatton and won the wrestle at crucial stages of the match.
Tyrell McCullough was one of Souths’ best whilst Dwayne Duncan also played well.
For the Hawks, Francis Han and Dom Haak tried hard.
So, after this match they line up again on Wednesday night in a mid-week playoff for sixth place and a chance to take on Pittsworth next Sunday in week one of the finals.
A GRADE: Souths 34 (Kyle Athorn, Junior Chong Nee, Dwayne Duncan, Tom Landers, Tyrell McCullough, Luke Nolan tries; Dwayne Duncan 5 goals) defeated Gatton 30 (Cameron Nicholls 2, Tye Gray, Dom Haak, Billy Jackwitz, Jack Pender tries; Callum Woolacott 3 goals)
RESERVE GRADE: Gatton 26 defeated Souths 18
UNDER 18: Souths 28 defeated Gatton 0
Warwick Cowboys v Highfields Eagles
Highfields spoilt Warwick’s party with a tough 36-20 win at Father Ranger Oval.
Highfields made up for last week’s debacle with sound play and surged to a 26-8 halftime lead.
Warwick got within six points with seven minutes remaining but then Eagles’ speedster Aaron Hooper went in for his third try of the day.
That was followed by a Cameron Sweedman try to put the game out of touch and end the season for last year’s grand finalists.
Young winger Kai Etherington scored a hattrick in one of the only bright lights for the Cowboys.
Darren Pettiford, Craig Donn and Paul Cantwell also worked hard for Warwick.
For Highfields, Connor Nolan had one of his best games of the year whilst front rowers Cameron Sweedman and Nathan Smith played well as did Nick Bainbridge until he was injured.
It was a welcome return to form for the Eagles and now face Wattles on Saturday night in a repeat of last week’s match.
A GRADE: Highfields 36 (Aaron Hooper 3, Nick Bainbridge 2, Josh Birch, Cameron Sweedman tries; Jarrod Lee 4 goals) defeated Warwick 20 (Kai Etherington 3, Mick Bloomfield tries; Dan Watson 2 goals)
RESERVE GRADE: Warwick 32 defeated Highfields 28
UNDER 18: Warwick 20 defeated Highfields 10
Wattles Warriors v Valleys Roosters
The Valleys Roosters played Wattles at Platz Oval on the weekend in a much-anticipated match.
The first half was a scrappy affair with both sides not securing the ball.
The lead changed five times throughout the match until some coach killers from Wattles allowed the Roosters to walk away with the win and this year’s minor premiership title.
Hnaloan Budden won the Hutchies Man of the Match for being everywhere in attack and defence whilst Emmanuel Cerei won the Toowoomba Sports Club Play of the Day after leaping high to deflect a ball to Baby Viane so he could score midway through the second half to break the 20-20 deadlock.
Anisi Finau scored soon after to get Valleys to a 32-20 lead, then captain Ryan Stevens slotted a field goal to put the game beyond doubt at 33-20.
Jake Johnson scored a late consolation try for the Warriors.
The two generals; Valleys’ Brett Seymour and Wattles’ Matt Duggan stepped up when needed to try and sway the game, especially Seymour who lifted his team late in the match.
Ty Gardner and the Perkins brothers tried hard for the Warriors but Valleys showed the competition they are the side to beat.
It was their ninth win in a row and have now beaten all of the title contenders in the regular season.
It was way back in Round Nine when Valleys last lost with Dalby last taking away the chocolates from the Roosters.
A GRADE: Valleys 33 (Luke Menhinnitt, Johnson Viane, Anisi Finau, Marc McGrady, Steven Rodgers, Jacob Ryals tries; Brett Seymour 4 goals; Ryan Stevens field goal) defeated Wattles 26 (Ty Gardner 2, Matt Duggan, James Johnson, Brenden Wilson tries; Matt Duggan 3 goals)
RESERVE GRADE: Valleys 56 defeated Wattles 4
UNDER 18: Valleys 78 defeated Wattles 6
WATCH: TRL Media speaking with Valleys Roosters coach Brett Seymour.
In the other TRL Under 18 match at the weekend, South Burnett secured fifth spot with a 24-16 win over the Pittsworth Danes.
After 18 rounds and the completition of the regular season, these are how the competition ladders stand:
A GRADE: Valleys 28, Dalby 26, Pittsworth 24, Highfields 22, Wattles 18, Gatton 16, Souths 16, Warwick 14, Brothers 4, Oakey 4, Goondiwindi 4
RESERVE GRADE: Gatton 29, Dalby 24, Valleys 22, Highfields 19, Brothers 18, Souths 16, Warwick 16, Pittsworth 14, Wattles 12, Goondiwindi 4, Oakey 2
UNDER 18: Dalby 28, Valleys 24, Souths 24, Warwick 23, South Burnett 23, Highfields 20, Gatton 14, Pittsworth 13, Goondiwindi 12, Brothers 7, Oakey 2, Wattles 2
SECOND DIVISION: Gatton 14, Pittsworth 12, Warwick 10, Dalby 8, Brothers 4, Valleys 0
WEEK ONE FINALS DRAW - ALL FINALS HELD AT CLIVE BERGHOFER STADIUM
A GRADE
3v6: Pittsworth v Souths/Gatton* - 7pm Saturday, August 12
4v5: Highfields v Wattles - 2.30pm Sunday, August 13
1&2: Valleys and Dalby - Bye
*Due to a tie in competition points, Souths and Gatton will playoff for sixth position.
RESERVE GRADE
4v5: Highfields v Brothers - 5pm Saturday, August 12
3v6: Valleys v Souths/Warwick - 1pm Sunday, August 13
1&2: Gatton and Dalby - Bye
*Due to a tie in competition points, Souths and Warwick will playoff for sixth position.
UNDER 18
3v6: Souths v Highfields - 3.30pm Saturday, August 12
4v5: Warwick v South Burnett - 11.30am Sunday, August 13
1&2: Dalby and Valleys - Bye
SECOND DIVISION
4v5: Dalby v Brothers - 2pm Saturday, August 12
3v6: Warwick v Valleys - 10am Sunday, August 13
1&2: Gatton and Pittsworth - Bye
For full results, ladders and upcoming fixtures of the Toowoomba Rugby League, visit the TRL website.
