A GRADE & Under-18 into finals

WE are the first team through to the A Grade and under-18 grand finals after good major semi-final wins on Sunday, but our quest for a hat-trick of Supa 11’s titles is unfortunately over after they were beaten in the minor semi-final.

Our A Graders maintained their unbeaten record, outclassing an injury-struck Hervey Bay Seagulls 46-10, while the under-18’s toppled minor premiers ATW 28-12, but our Supa’s blew a 20-8 lead early in the second half to go down to Wallaroos 32-26.

We made a shaky start in A Grade, but after repelling several Seagulls’ raids, we drew first blood with in-form centre Andrew Duffy finishing well down the left-hand side for a try in the seventh minute.

But the defining moment came in the 15^th minute with champion Seagulls fullback Clinton Horne suffering an unfortunate broken collarbone.

We scored on the first tackle from the restart of play, with Michael Wise, playing in a new position at fullback, also finishing well.

Complacency may have crept into our game and the plucky Seagulls regrouped, dominated possession and territory for the next 15 minutes and were eventually rewarded with a converted try.

But we struck back three minutes before the break, with Andrew Duffy being hobbled close to the line but stumbling over and Michael Wise converting for a 14-6 lead, but unfortunately Andrew suffered a knee injury in the process, ending his game.

Hervey Bay again came out all guns blazing in the second stanza, but we weathered the storm, and we extended our lead with barnstorming second rower Nathan Jensen surging over at the exact same point as we opened our account in the first half.

Then on the end of our next possession, Michael Wise delivered the virtual knock-out punch, racing through on an astute Aaron Kuskey kick and pilfering the ball from the fullback in a clean one-on-one strip and racing over the line, before also adding the extras.

We continued on to rack up 32 straight points in a frenzied 22 minutes with winger Troy Hammett producing a double-act with tries in the 55^th and 61^st minutes, rampaging front rower Michael Morris powering over in the 63^rd minute, and interchange dynamo Barry Blackman darting down a narrow blind-side corridor close to touch to also go all the way in the 69^th minute, and Michael Wise converting four of them to complete a personal haul of 18 points.

With some key players put in cotton wool for the grand final, we did take out foot off the metal, and the Seagulls came up with a consolation try in the 76^th minute, but the game was well and truly over.

We had many heroes, headed by Brent and Aaron Kuskey who shone in a galaxy of stars, pulling the strings on a well executed performance at hooker and halfback respectively, with the former also taking out the BRL Player of the Day award.

Matt Hall, who switched from fullback to five-eighth, was also good, along with his younger brother Aaron, who reverted from second row to lock and again topped the tackles with 27, and Michael Morris, who had a whale of a game in his return from a five-match suspension.

We will now be hoping to end a four-year drought when we contest the grand final on Sunday week, but while Andrew Duffy will be racing against the clock to overcome his injury, lock Boe Zimmerlie is on track to return after missing the major semi-final, also with a knee ailment.

Despite the ease of the win, coach Andrew Hamilton warned we will have to improve if we are to go all the way.

In under-18’s, hooker Jakob Horn scored two tries in a strong all-round performance but lock Ryan McGoldrick was our best, including racking up 30 bone-crunching tackles before being concussed late in the game.

Workaholic second rower Leigh Eade was another stand-out, along with five-eighth Reece Watton, but with a completion rate of just 27%, coach Dean Akers said it was our defence which won the game, although we will need to greatly reduce our handling errors if we are to reclaim the trophy.

In Supa 11’s, we invited Roos back into the game, gifting them two tries within six minutes of establishing the 12-point lead, but coach Mark Doolan also rued an 11-2 penalty count against us and a sin-binning at 20-18 ahead, which in the end proved too much to overcome.

Hooker Dustin Sippel was our Man of the Match despite his stint in the sin-bin, while front rowers Shannon Muller and John McDougall turned in their usual heavyweight performances, Matthew Cross ran the side well as always from halfback, and centre Josh Anderson racked up a double and was a constant threat. Dustin tackled everything in his sight, including racking up 16 in the first half.

It was a disappointing exit after we had finished second on the ladder but were also beaten by ATW 40-18 in the qualifying final despite two tries from centre Joel McNamara.

A Grade Major semi-final: Brothers 46 (Michael Wise 2, Andrew Duffy 2, Troy Hammett 2, Michael Morris, Nathan Jensen, Barry Blackman tries; Wise 5 goals) d Hervey Bay 10. Tackles: Aaron Hall 27, Cameron Ricciardi 24, Matt Hall 22, Brent Kuskey 20, Lyal Darby 18, Aaron Kuskey 18, Michael Morris 18, Mark Cherry 14. Hit-ups: Michael Morris 17, Luke Turnbull 14, Lyal Darby 10, Brent Kuskey 10.
Supa 11^'s Minor semi-final: Wallaroos 32 d Brothers 26 (Josh Anderson 2, Chris Symonds, Bryce Holdsworth, John McDougall tries; Anderson 3 goals). Tackles: Dustin Sippel 22, Bryce Holdsworth 12, Zac Jensen 12, David Chapman 11, Mark Barrett 11. Hit-ups: Josh Anderson 17, Chris Symonds 13, Bryce Holdsworth 11. Qualifying final: ATW 40 d Brothers 18 (Joel McNamara 2, Chris Symonds, John McDougall tries; Josh Anderson goal). Tackles: Josh Anderson 17, Dan Turner 15, Bryce Holdsworth 11, Dustin Sippel 11. Hit-ups: Bryce Holdsworth 14, John McDougall 12, Josh Anderson 10, Chris Symonds 9, Joel McNamara 9, Shannon Muller 9.

Under-18 Major semi-final: Brothers 28 (Jakob Horn 2, Marshall Murphy, Zac Miller, Ray Heidrich, Barry Blackman tries; Murphy, Kane Chapman goals) d ATW 12. Tackles: Ryan McGoldrick 30, Leigh Eade 22. Hit-ups: Ray Heidrich 20, Leigh Eade 19, Reece Watton 12.

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