And what a day it was on Saturday at Stafford Park, Hervey Bay with a day jam packed of juniors and seniors and it was such a sight to see a huge crowd throughout the entire day. The weather Gods were kind to us all despite a bit of a cross breeze which was a bit of a hindrance to the goal kickers but apart from that it was a great day out.
The first match I witnessed was an Under 13 clash between Hervey Bay Green and Across the Waves and the Hervey Bay Seagulls totally dominated to run away with a 56 nil victory. Harry Nuske for the Seagulls was outstanding with 5 tries, 4 of those in the first half and obviously was a handful for the Waves defence every time he touched the ball. Byron Love with a double, Keychon Cunningham with two as well, Jackson Landon and flashy fullback Dominic Woodbridge also crossed the line in what was an entertaining display of attacking football. Across the Waves were hindered with traffic problems delaying a few players arrival but they tried their hardest for the entirety of the match with Izekiel Wala, Jackson Brown, Keegan Breslin, Patrick Clarke and Corey James leaving nothing in the tank.
Next on the main field was Hervey Bay and Wests in an Under 14 clash where Hervey Bay looked to have the game wrapped up early but Wests fought back but fell short in a 28-16 defeat after trailing 28-6 early in the 2nd half. Jake Woodman, Tingira Tobane, Tom Kidd, Ben Hudson, Regan Zelow and Miana Atulah crossed for the Seagulls and Lachlan Turnbull, Gase Laird and Tyson Douglas for Wests. Lachlan Turnbull was very impressive for the Wests outfit and Sam Thompson and Ben Hudson led the Seagulls around the park remarkably well.
Hervey Bay took on Wests in the Under 15s and after crossing for the first try through Lachlan Turnbull who backed up after his impressive performance in the 14’s, Wests capitulated to a well oiled Hervey Bay machine who ran out 72 to 6 winners. Tyrell Douglas and Christian Mostert crossed for hat tricks, Jayden McCloskey and J’mane Hopgood doubles with Lachie Jackson, Tyler Cittadella, Ty Lindsen also scoring. In a beaten side, Chris Chapman, Rhys Baker and Lachlan Turnbull never stopped trying and did catch the eye of onlookers and the Hervey Bay side just had one of those days were everything seemed to click into gear for them. Fullback Tyrell Douglas was great to watch, J’mane Hopgood was scheming from dummy half, Sam Ballin steered the ship so that Mostert, Matthews and Preval could give Douglas the room to move to show his wares.
In an earlier game in the Under 13’s, Hervey Bay Red 36 defeated Wests 8 in what was a very good day for the Seagulls juniors.
I have to admit that it is such a great day at the home of the Seagulls, especially when the seniors have a home game as the amount of support for not only the local side but all sides is amazing to see.
One final note I would like to add, if you are a parent or player it would be fantastic to see all involved to give the officials some support and respect for the job they do. Unfortunately it seems as if some things we see and hear from our NRL heroes are slowly filtering down to the juniors with some of the language they are receiving. It is not an easy job and we need more people involved in this capacity but they need our support not our abuse.
