Enthusiasm ahead of break

The Dophins mean business with a great weekend of rugby before a three-week break.

By JOE JURISEVIC

The final round before a three-week hiatus for the upcoming school holidays saw a final rush of enthusiasm from players for this week’s games. Training will still take place as usual for many teams, and no rest for our Stingrays representative players gearing up for the State Championships to be held on the Gold Coast over the holiday period in two week’s time.
U6 Reds 65 – Grammar 70
Jax jinked, Jaxon jived, Manu manoeuvred and Darcy dived, Stirling stepped and Angus attacked while Conor cavorted and Harry…….. Harassed. Rugby purists sighed in relief as they witnessed a fast-paced and high scoring match with silky skills and deft defending on show. Darcy, Jax and Jaxon all got their first tries of the season and Harry gets special mention for dotting down eight of his own. Domino’s Pizza Player Of The Match was Jaxon Peermamode.

U8 Reds 5 – Brothers Red 70
It was a tough slog early but the side improved as the game went on. Will led the boys well having his best game to date taking the ball up straight hard and fast, good scrums, good passes and a great show of sportsmanship. Oscar worked hard putting on some good tackles, and did his best to defend, covering lots of ground. Byron was courageous doing his best to clear out the big forwards, took some big tackles and threw a great pass to Joch who made good ground. Joch showed fight taking the ball up, clearing out and running well-timed defensive runs to make tackles and save further tries.
Kaleb tried all angles to get through with arcing runs heading towards both wings only to hit brick walls and also chased hard in defence. Mack did his best to find a gap to be tackled, go to ground and pass the ball back to be our Domino’s Pizza Player of the Match. Finnbar also had a fantastic game. Very strong text-book tackling found its mark all game, unstoppable runs forward making the most ground for the reds finally resulting in our only try.
U9 Reds 50 – Grammar 30
Grammar started very hard and were well in at the breakdown, playing the first five minutes in the side’s half, but the side fought hard in defence and that resulted in them getting the turnover to race away for the first try. The game then turned into a battle around the breakdown with both teams engaging in a very physical war. Defence was superb, allowing the backs to counter attack at will. Try scorers were Jackson three, two to Mack and one each to Bailey, Fletcher, Jack, Kye and Oliver. Domino’s Pizza Player Of The Match – Fletcher.
U10 Reds 65 – USC 60
Another wonderful and determined game of rugby from the U10 Reds this week. Tries scored by Sabyr (4), Billy (4), Max (2) and Jess (1). Great conversions again from Flynn. Domino’s Pizza Player of the Match went to Corey Rae for some amazing tackles.
U10 Fins 0 – MFAC 38
Flinders had all the momentum from the start and dominated the first half, scoring five tries and taking full advantage of the Fins who were caught off their guard. In a real show of strength and courage, the Fins were a match for the opposition in the second half who were made to work much harder for their one score due to incessant heroic tackling from the Fins, notably Ashton, Lachie, Ethan, Harrison, James, Jarrah and Domino’s Pizza Player of the Match Soren Mannsen.
U11 Noosa 14 – USC 14
The Under 11s showed just how much they progressed this season as a team with a gutsy draw against a tough Uni team. Olly left his mark on his last game for the team this season with some bullocking runs in the forwards with Alex and Max working hard to clear out at the rucks. In the backs, Hamish linked well with the hard running duo of Jonah and Matt in midfield. The teamwork from the boys in defence was excellent the whole match and forced Uni to really work for their two tries. Tries to Jonah and Matt. Domino’s Pizza Player of the Match was Max Waterworth.