Wallabies jumping

THE Gladstone Wallabies left Townsville with memories to last a lifetime after winning their first Gorden Tallis Cup. Gladstone beat Cairns Brothers 16-12 in Sunday’s final at the Townsville Junior and District Rugby League grounds, which hosted a carnival featuring close to 1000 players from 64 teams across the state. Tallis was in Townsville for his carnival and spoke glowingly of its talented young players and the quality of the games. “I just love coming back here, and the young players here deserve a lot of credit for the way they played and conducted themselves,” he said. “It’s a huge weekend; each team played eight games across two days. The great thing about a carnival like this is the players learn a little more about the game, and the teams become a little bit better too.” Queensland Rugby League operations manager Kerri Ritchie said the carnival, in its 17th year, had been a huge success.

Ton for Stanley

REGULAR Far North visiting jockey Justin Stanley came good on his pledge to ride a century of winners this season with a winning double at Mackay on Saturday. After winning the inaugural Battle of the Bush Final on Mason’s Chance at Doomben last Saturday, the widely travelled Stanley needed two wins to crack 100 winners. He won on The Barmaid for Mason’s Chance trainer Olivia Cairns, and then brought up the ton when Chivahdahlii won the Open Handicap.

Baynes re-signs