Raiders push hard for second team
PORT Douglas will ramp up its recruitment drive in the New Year after confirmation the club will field two teams in the 2020 FNQ Rugby season.
The Reef Raiders have fielded just one team per season for the most of the past decade, and this year managed to fight their way into Agrade’s top four.
While they were bundled out by a rampant Barron Trinity Bulls outfit in the first week of the finals, their season as a whole showed promising signs for the northernmost club in the FNQ Rugby competition.
Interest in playing the 15man code has intensified in the months since, and earlier this week the club held a meeting to gauge whether their commitment was strong enough to warrant two teams.
Port Douglas president Don Murday and his committee were excited about the move, but needed a full commitment from players to see out the season rather than leave one of the teams short and struggling every second week.
Before the meeting, Murday told the Cairns Post the benefit of a second XV was not just in the numbers.
A reserve grade team would help the club not only develop more young players, but would open the door to more people trying the 15-man code.
“There’s a whole lot of people who have been held back because they want to play, but they don’t want to step up to A-grade straight away,” Murday said.
“We had six or so under-18s this year who would have benefited from having more of a run in a reserve grade set-up.
“We’ve got a bit of time before we have to nominate our teams but we’ve been getting a really good turnout.”