The Toowoomba Rugby League Hutchies A Grade competition has seven clubs leading the competition.
Souths remain the only side undefeated after they burst Brothers bubble 30-20, but it was Gatton who stole the show in the match of the round with an impressive display against country cousins Wattles 50-20. Highfields Eagles got their campaign back on track by beating Dalby 20-8, whilst Warwick and Pittsworth also had good wins.
Gatton 50 def Wattles 20
Gatton announced they are the team to beat in this year’s competition. After being down 12-0 after 25 mins, the Hawks machine took over and outplayed their country cousins. Halves Callum Woolacott and Ashley Boney combined well to keep their opposition guessing. In a team effort, Woolacott was excellent in support play and kicked a bagful of goals in an impressive display. He won the Hutchies Player of the Match.
The Hawks led 22-14 at the break and their huge forward pack paved the way for their backs to capitalise. Dominic Haak showed his experience and was also one of Gatton’s best whilst veteran Steve Franciscus seemed to enjoy his new role at lock come dummy half.
“We just did not complete our sets and you need to against a quality side like Gatton,” Wattles Garry Lawrence said. “Captain Dale Perkins wasn’t too unhappy with is troops, saying he has “a young side and only a couple of boys from last season’s premiership winning side, so new combinations but we are still looking forward to a competitive season.”
Gatton coach Nicki John Harch praised his side – in particular Woolacott, but pointed out Haak’s talk was good. “It just goes to show that if we hang onto the ball we can dominate.” Dennis Burgoyne and Allan Morris made an impact off the bench for the Hawks especially after they lost Josh Mildren in the first half to a leg injury.
Gatton 50 (Callum Woolacott 2, Ash Boney 2, Tye Gray, Jack Pender, Riley Godwin, Dom Haak, Robbie Fletcher tries; Callum Woolacott 7 goals) def Wattles 20 (Cameron Shannon, James Johnson, Tyrone Jowett tries Jason Wilmot 4 goals)
Reserve Grade: Gatton 38 def Wattles 18
Under 18: Wattles 40 def Gatton 16
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Highfields 20 def Dalby 8
Highfields Eagles got their premiership campaign back on track with a hard-fought win over the Dalby Diehards at Kuhls Road on Saturday night. Dalby put it to the Eagles and lead by two points 8-6 at half time but Highfields’ defence stayed intact in the second half with Diehards failing to score.
Dalby coach Kerry Carmichael said his side lost their way in the second half after a strong first half performance. “Our defence was good, but attack was not effective in that second stanza.”
Highfields coach Gus McKellar was relieved to get the two premiership points after a disruptive start to the season. “Jarrod Lee and Jayden Motley were good, but I don’t want to single them out as the whole team played well.”
“We spoke about getting out of own half through the week and we went a long way to achieving that,” he said. Late in the game, Highfields centre Matt Dunstan went down with a leg injury and maybe out for the next few weeks, but McKellar said they would have to wait and see how he recovers through the week.
Highfields 20 (Blake Appo, Nick Bainbridge, Jayden Motley tries Jarrod Lee 4 goals) def Dalby 8 (Braydon Alexander, Zac Morris tries)
Reserve Grade: Dalby 26 def Highfields 20
Under 18: Dalby 52 def Highfields 16
Pittsworth 70 def Goondiwindi 16
Pittsworth Danes surprised even themselves with a huge win over Goondiwindi 70-16 on Saturday night. Danes halves James Demsey and Thomas O’Sullivan set up the win with O’Sullivan scoring three tries whilst Mitchell Carpenter got a double in a dominant display. Pittsworth raced to 30-0 in the first half and the Boars had no answers apart from a brief “mini-comeback” midway through the second half.
Pittsworth 70 (Thomas O’Sullivan 3, Mitchell Carpenter 2, Jeffrey Weber, Dean Twaddle, Kabunare Kafe, Jake Johnson, Matthew Briggs, Brayden Gibbs, Daniel York tries Jake Johnson 11 goals) def Goondiwindi 16 (Timothy Tribe, Brady Martryn, Callum Skinner tries; Adam Tribe 2 goals)
Reserve Grade: Pittsworth 54 def Goondiwindi 28
Under 18: Pittsworth 44 def Goondiwindi 18
League Tag: Goondiwindi 28 Pittsworth12
Warwick 34 def Valleys 28
Warwick was always in control of their match against Valleys Roosters at Father Ranger Oval. Warwick president David O’Leary praised his side, especially prop Trent Richardson who scored two tries as well centre Dylan Galloway who was everywhere for the Cowboys. Valleys president Gary Dejoux said Valleys let themselves down, mainly in defence, but showed some spirit to make the score respectable. He added that Analoan Budden was their best whilst Ryan Stevens, who moved to hooker for the match, and Aaron Sillito at the back were good. Warwick led 22-4 at half time and got to 32-10 in front until Valleys’ comeback what it was too late.
Warwick 34 (Dan Watson 2, Trent Richardson 2, Craig Down, Dylan Galloway tries Morgan Taylor 5 goals) def Valleys 28 (Analoan Budden 2, Tom Orcher, Oliver Scott, Gus Mati tries Josh Hancock 3 Sam Marshall goals)
Reserve Grade: Warwick 28 def Valleys 22
Under 18: Warwick 30 def Valleys 14
Second Division: Valleys 20 def Warwick 12
Souths 30 def Brothers 20
Souths scored a tough win against old foes Brothers. Souths coach Daniel Holmes said his best players were Matthew Holmes, Corey Blades and Connor Pyke. “It was a gutsy win. Corey Blades was the difference and the rest of the boys played off his enthusiasm,” Holmes said. South halfback Brendan Hall has suspected broken finger, Lachlan Berlin (shoulder) and Aaron Cherry (jaw) all finished the game with injuries. In fact, the Tigers had no one left on the bench by full time.
Brothers Coach Liam Cullen said they were simply out enthused. “We didn’t compete for the whole 80 minutes.” With new combinations, the Brethren were still feeling their way, but Cullen was happy with Mitch Petros and Robbie Celvin whilst starved of the ball played well.
Souths led 12-8 at half time and went on with it in the second half. Souths remain the only undefeated side in the TRL competition.
Souths 30 (Corey Blades 2, Josh Ryan, Lachlan Berlin, Phil Waters tries Luke Nolan 5 goals) def Brothers 20 (Aidau Watterson 2, William Squires, Marcus Cochrane tries Michael Cochrane 2 goals)
Reserve Grade: Souths 23 def Brothers 16
Under 18: Brothers 36 def Souths 30
Second Division: Souths 38 def Brothers 10
