Round 13 of the season saw lots of action for the Noosa Dolphins Juniors on Saturday 5 August.
Some teams played to place in the top four, others were practising for certain final berths, and yet more played with the vigour and confident grunt that comes with months of experience. Here are some of the highlights from the weekend.
Under 11s – Reds – Coaches wept and parents gasped as the U11 Reds brought together a season of hard training against the Saints in Round 13’s grudge match of note. The visitors brought passion and heat to the Noosa back field, but could only get over the line once. The Reds forwards rumbled through the Saints, rucks were solid while great passes made our boys nimble and dangerous. But it was The Salty, a beautiful cross-field kick from Max on an attacking Reds line, ably chased down by Ryker to secure the try, that proved the highlight of the match.
Other notables included gritty driving runs from Tommy and Ethan, fantastic tackling from all the boys, multiple tries to Max, Ryker and Xavier with one to Kai. The Reds are stepping into their greatness. Wallabies, start taking some bloody notes! McDonald’s Player of the Match went to Max whose precision on the boot and excellent teamwork continued to shine through the season. Well done Reds. There was so much pride on the sideline for you boys!
Under 10s – Whites – Back home under clearing skies with a few clouds threatening, out trotted the Whites and got off to their usual slow start. In short order from the kick-off we were on our heels. Some great tackling from Tom and Duke, along with a try saver from Hugo and more desperation from Eric, saw us keep our line intact. When all seemed doomed, we were let off by a knock on by Grammar.
Some hard runs by Eddie and Hunter off our line gave Tom space for a clearing kick and created more breathing space. A penalty downfield gave us a chance, from Hugo quickly off to Zion and then onto Harvey for a barging run and our first try, 5-0. It looked like we had woken up! From the kick-off Ben was over for another, 12-0. All this time Sol and Zac were in it up to their eyeballs, running and tackling. AFL Tom used his size to advantage ensuring we had good go forward all half. We had hit our straps with Mason in the thick of things and Jake alongside Zac creating mayhem and letting Emmerson loose for our third try. 17-0 at half time.
Once again, we were slow out of the blocks and Grammar got momentum for a well-worked try, 17-5. But we came back with Alex and Albee showing some nice touches, opening up the defence for Mason to charge down the sideline and give a good inside ball to Soccer Tom, who backed up for a try, 22-5. Some great interplay between Jake, Miller, Albee and Mason led to try-scoring machine Zion claiming another try, 29-5. We received the kick off and Ben, showing blistering pace, raced down the sideline for a scintillating try, 34-5.
Zion was in the play again with a nice run and offload to the ever-present Harvey, then the Duke to Emmerson, capping off a fine game with his second try, 41-5 for the full-time score. Yet another outstanding effort by the Whites.
