SEQ dominate Day 2 of State Junior Championships

Author: QRL Media
Timestamp: Sat 7 Jul 2018, 03:35 AM

The South East Queensland Water Dragons have dominated the second day of the QRL State Junior Championships in Mackay, slaying all teams to claim victory in every Day 2 appearance.

In the first Under 14 Boys game of the day, the Crows led SEQ White 12-10 at the break and looked the better side following some brilliant leadership around the park by halfback Trae Bennetto.

The White Water Dragons had other ideas though and completely shutout the Crows in the second stanza; muscling up in defence, forcing crucial errors and capitalising on the opportunities given, scoring 12 unanswered points in the last 25 to ice the game.

It was an arm-wrestle in the Northern v SEQ Green encounter with the scores locked at 4-4 at halftime, but that quickly changed after the break as the "second half specialists" took control to win 18-4 at the final siren.

It was a tough day at the office for the Central Crows Under 14 Girls, losing to both SEQ and Northern in their first day of action.

The Water Dragons never looked like losing in their only game of the day, defeating Central 22-4 to cement top spot on the ladder.

It was a much better showing by the Crows in their second game of the day against their country cousins, the Marlins.

Both teams came out to play and delivered some bone-rattling bellringers, much to the excitement of the crowd.

At halftime, the scores were locked at 4-4 but errors and penalties in the second half led to a breakthrough Northern try to Alarnah Langwe, and then the hosts all but sealed it in the 16th minute with Nazareth Blanco crossing the line.

A win by SEQ in today's opening game will seal a Water Dragons victory in the Under 14 Girls age group.

It was much the same for the SEQ Under 16 Boys like their younger counterparts, claiming both win against Central and Northern respectively.

The Crows threw everything but the kitchen sink at last year's champions and were rewarded on the scoreboard with a 12-4 lead at halftime.

The game was a tale of two halves however as the fighting spirit that was shown by the SEQ Under 14 Boys in the earlier match resonated to their older combatants, scoring 20 points in the final half to seal victory, including a two-try haul to Brendan Piakuru.

As fate would have it, the Northern v SEQ Green game was much like the earlier Under 14 clash between the two.

A tit-for-tat contest played out in a high-quality final game of the day, with a tight 12-10 score line setting the considerable crowd up for an exciting final 30.

The Water Dragons came out of the sheds firing, with Ethan King scoring a breakaway try in the 1st minute to extend his teams' lead to a converted try difference.

The Marlins reset and from there, an enterprising 20 minutes followed, with everyone at the ground and at home on the edge of their seats, hoping for their side to either level it up or run away with it.

With four minutes left, Keegan Vanderburg was the man to drive a dagger through the home side's hearts, scoring the clincher to take the game 20-10.

The Green Water Dragons will take on the winless Central Crows; meanwhile, their city cousins take on Northern.

In the only Under 16 Girls game, Northern defeated Central 24-14, deadlocking first spot on the ladder with SEQ, with both teams on nine competition points and +10 for and against points.

If SEQ and Northern defeat Central in both games today, a thrilling final will playout tomorrow for the Harvey Norman Under 16 Girls Karyn Murphy Shield.

STATE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 2 RESULTS

UNDER 14 BOYS

SEQ WHITE 22 (Kobie Mackey-Taylor, Kyle Colburn, Shannon Subritzky-Stewart, Jye Gray tries; Kobie Mackey-Taylor 3 goals) defeated CENTRAL 12 (Trae Bennetto, Dain Milosavljevic tries; Trae Bennetto 2 goals)

SEQ GREEN 18 (Metuisela Taungatua, Timothy Sielaff-Burns, Blake Ruaporo, Jed Lacey tries; Jed Lacey goal) defeated NORTHERN 4 (Ky Kerr try)

UNDER 14 GIRLS

SEQ 22 (Rialey Baty, Mackenzie Baty, Malaela Su'a, Wendy Toma tries; Mackenzie Baty 2 goals) defeated CENTRAL 4 (Courtney-Lee Whittaker try)

NORTHERN 12 (Alarnah Langwe, Libby Surha, Nazareth Blanco tries) defeated CENTRAL 4 (Miah Powell try)

UNDER 16 BOYS

SEQ WHITE 24 (Brendan Piakura 2, Tate Roberts, Tyrone Sa'u, Kedan Chan-Tung tries; Reece Walsh 2 goals) defeated CENTRAL 18 (Jake Zammitt, Connor Clement, Josh Moroney tries; Josh Chappell 3 goals)

SEQ GREEN 20 (Ethan King, Keegan Vandenberg, Byron Parnell, Brodyn Gudgeon tries; Trezman Banjo 2 goals) defeated NORTHERN MARLINS 10 (Jesse Yallop, Henri Stocks tries; Henri Stocks goal)

UNDER 16 GIRLS

NORTHERN 24 (Jasmine Peters 2, Alion Guiga 2, Jordii Mahendrarajah tries; Jasmine Peters 2 goals) defeated CENTRAL 14 (Traevonnah Fisher, Abelee Stanley, Sophie Wright tries; Georgia Voll goal)

LADDERS AFTER DAY 2*

UNDER 14 BOYS

#	TEAM	W	D	L	+/-	PTS
1	SEQ Green	2	0	0	+20	10
2	Central	1	0	1	-2	6
3	SEQ White	1	0	1	+4	5
4	Northern	0	0	2	-22	3

UNDER 14 GIRLS

#	TEAM	W	D	L	+/-	PTS
1	SEQ	2	0	0	+46	12
2	Northern	1	0	1	-20	5
3	Central	0	0	2	-26	1

UNDER 16 BOYS

#	TEAM	W	D	L	+/-	PTS
1	SEQ Green	2	0	0	+20	10
2	SEQ White	1	0	1	-4	6
3	Northern	1	0	1	-4	4
4	Central	0	0	2	-12	4

UNDER 16 GIRLS

#	TEAM	W	D	L	+/-	PTS
1	SEQ	1	1	0	+10	9
2	Northern	1	1	0	+10	9
3	Central	0	0	2	-20	0

*6 points are available per game:
2pts for each half won
1pt for each half drawn
0pts for each half lost
2pts for winning the match

DAY 3 DRAW

SATURDAY, JULY 7

TIME	AGE GROUP	GAME
10am	Under 14 Girls	Central v SEQ
11am	Under 16 Girls	Central v SEQ
12pm	Under 14 Boys	Central v SEQ Green
1pm	Under 16 Boys	Central v SEQ Green (Field 1)
1pm	Under 14 Boys	Northern v SEQ White (Field 2)
2.15pm	Under 16 Boys	Northern v SEQ White (Field 1)
2.15pm	Under 14 Girls	Northern v SEQ (Field 2)
3.30pm	Under 16 Girls	Central v Northern