CLYDESDALES SADDLE UP FOR CUP FINAL
RUGBY LEAGUE: They’ve defied the odds and now the Toowoomba Clydesdales are out to claim their place as Queensland’s premier club team.
Toowoomba is set to take on the Brisbane Poinsettias in the final of the XXXX League Championship in Ipswich, with more than bragging rights on the line.
With the Western Mustangs pushing for inclusion into the Intrust Super Cup in the near future, TRL board member Andrew O’Brien said a win on Saturday would provide
a huge boost.
“These opportunities don’t come along often” he said.
“One good thing to come out of Covid is having this opportunity to show off how and why we can confirm Toowoomba is the best grassroots competition in Australia.
“There’s more crowds, more interaction and more teams than any other third tier competition.
“All we can control is to continue to sell our product locally, and that appeals to decision makers. We can do our part to show them that our product is alive and worth investing in.”
The win to book their spot in the final will go down in Clydesdales folklore.
Restricted to just 14 men for the majority of the game after travelling to Mackay on the morning of the game, Toowoomba held solid and prevailed with a late intercept from Chris Woodbridge sealing an unlikely win.
Clydesdales captain Xavier Manley said the way the squad has been able to come together puts them in good stead to cause another upset over Brisbane.
“A lot of us have played together for a few years now. We had our backs against the
wall but our combinations got us through in the end,” he said.
“It was phenomenal the way everyone turned up for each other, and to make the final is definitely up there with the highlights for me.
“To be in the final in its inaugural year is big for us. We’ve been the underdogs each time we’ve gone into this.
“To win would mean the world to us. A lot of us are from country areas, and to see how quickly we can gel on the field with limited training is a massive compliment to the whole team.”
The XXXX League Championship takes place on Saturday from 2.45pm, with the game to be broadcast live on qrl.com.au and the radio broadcast on the TRL’s Facebook page.
CLYDESDALES TEAM
1. David Armstrong, 2. Chris Woodbridge, 3. Mitch Watson, 4. Dwayne Duncan,
5. Harry Cooke, 6. Cory McGrady 7. Dylan Taylor, 8. Drew Jackson, 9. Danny Wassell, 10. Xavier Manley (c), 11. Hnaloan Budden, 12. Ty Gardner, 13. Blake Mara, 14. Shannon Hicks, 16. Dale Perkins, 17. Alex Donn, 18. Ben Sullivan, 22. Elliott Speed