AFTER 28 pool games and seven finals matches which saw 248 tries scored, Rockhampton’s Fitzroy Sharks were crowned the 2015 Rhys Wesser “Dream Believe Achieve” Shield champions last weekend.
Day 1 saw 14 teams arrive at Victoria Park for the pool stage of the Shield. Sides travelled from Edmonton near Cairns, Mackay, Gladstone, Biloela Capricorn Coast, Rockhampton and a Charleville side made up of players drawn from Roma, Tambo, Blackall, Winton and Charleville. Each team played four games and were then ranked 1 to 14 and divided up into seven division finals.
There were some fantastic games of football with some very close finishes including one draw. It took until the 28th pool game to decide the top two sides to play out the Division 1 Shield Final.
Rockhampton Brothers needed to beat Emu Park White by 17 points to make the final against Fitzroy's, while Gladstone Brothers were sweating on the final result. What played out had the organisers going for the calculators when Rocky Brothers won by 16 points, leaving both Brothers sides on same points and net for & against of +70.
After getting the for & against percentages, Gladstone Brothers proceeded through to the final.
Day 1 standings (and Day 2 grand final match ups):
1 Fitzroy's v 2 Gladstone Brothers
3 Rocky Brothers v 4 Mackay Brothers
5 Emu Park Red v 6 North's
7 Tannum Seagulls v 8 Charleville
9 Edmonton Storm v 10 Cap Coast Brothers
11 Sarina v 12 Biloela
13 Emu Park White v 14 Walkerston Wanderers
Day 2 at Browne Park started with a NRL Development clinic for 6 to 12 year olds before the Cyril Connell and Mal Meninga Capras v Cutters games were played. The Division 1 final was also played in the lead up to the Intrust Super match between the Capras and the Cutters.
The day started at 10.30am with the Division 7 Final, were Emu Park White proved too strong for Walkerston winning 24-10.
The Division 6 final was won by Sarina when they defeated Biloela 34 – 6.
The Division 5 final was a high scoring affair when Edmonton Storm defeated Cap Coast Brothers 40-22.
In Division 4 - Tannum Sands scored a late try to beat Charleville 22-16. Charleville lead most of the match but unfortunately for them, couldn't hold on when Tannum scored in the final minute.
Division 3 saw two local sides battle out with Emu Park Red defeating North's 26-4.
Division 2 was a battle of Rockhampton & Mackay Brothers with Mackay getting home in a very tight affair 18-14.
The next game to grace Browne Park was the Camp Quality touch game which included Rhys playing with children and parents of Camp Quality against a side made up of NRL Development officers and visiting teams’ parents.
Unfortunately captain Dominic Draper was a late withdrawal due to injury from the All Stars side and they were well beaten by the Camp Quality Children which makes it four years in a row they have been victorious.
The Carnival took a break for the Cyril Connell and Mal Meninga Cup games then at 5pm the main final was played as the lead up to the Intrust Super Cup game.
Fitzroy Sharks had control of the game from the outset getting out to a 10-point lead. However, Gladstone Brothers hit back just before halftime for 10-4 score line.
Fitzroy's again scored early for a 14-4 lead before a great try from Brothers and a great conversion out wide gave the Brethren some confidence and 14-10 score line.
Brothers were attacking hard close to the Sharks line before a mistake and a near length-of-the-field effort from the Sharkies, they finished with a late try and a final score 24-14.
While the action was on the field; off the field the Carnival again had its fundraising for Community Partners Camp Quality and Cancer Council Queensland with almost $1000 raised over the two days from raffles & collection buckets.
The carnival also partnered with Head Space Rockhampton with a small clinic held on the Thursday and information handed out at the games.
The Carnival believes that participation is key to success on the field. It has a strong message of “Dream Believe Achieve” off the field and having a Community and Life Message is very important to success for everyone involved.
With Easter being early in 2016, the Carnival is being pencilled in for Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, 2016.
Clubs can keep up to date on the Rhys Wesser “Dream, Believe, Achieve” Super 9's Facebook page.
The RDJRL would like to thank all the teams, officials and parents for giving up their time to attend the carnival with some sides travelling 8-17 hours to make it Rockhampton.
The Carnival organisers would like to thank all the volunteers for helping out over the two days and the match officials who had to cover 35 games over the two days.
Carnivals like these are not able to run without sponsors and we would like to thank the following for their continued support:
CQ Leagues Club | SMW Group | Capricorn Enterprises | Rockhampton Regional Council
Sportscene Super Warehouse | Daniels Surgical | Webber's Retravision | A Slice of Life Photography
Central Queensland Capras | CQNRL Bid Team
Gallery: Rhys Wesser Shield 2015
Photos: A Slice of Life Photography
