Mareeba’s twin towerswreak havocin under18s competition
THEY are the twin towers who are wreaking absolute havoc on the under-18s Cairns District Rugby League competition.
And on Sunday, Leon Wood and Tyrone Williams will again lead Mareeba Gladiators from the front when they host the Tully Tigers at Davies Park.
Both can play in the front or back row, have plenty of size and power on their side, and have pulled off a few successful chip-and-chase kicks to put over flying fullbacks for tries.
According to coach Bryce Morgan the pair are “halfbacks trapped in forwards bodies”.
“They’re both front row for- wards, but Tyrone has a bit more speed so we can use him on the edge,” Morgan said.
“We can get him into plenty of two-on-one situations.
“When they’re on song they’re getting two or three tries per game.
“And when you can get four tries a game out of two players, it’s pretty good for the team.”
And if you need any proof of this Gladiators duo’s skills, tune in to Sunday afternoon‘s live stream on KommuntyTV via the Cairns Post and see it for yourself.
Wood and Williams are the two leading tryscorers in the under-18s competition, with 15 and 13 fourpointers respectively.
Williams is also Mareeba’s primary goalkicker, and leads the pointscoring race with 112 points this season – 38 more than Tully’s Morgan Black.
The duo aren’t the sole
reason for Mareeba’s success, but it does make a difference if the brilliant battering rams are in form. And that’s what Morgan will hope for when his side hosts the Tigers in arguably their most important game of the run to the finals. The teams boast an identical 5-5 record, but Tully has a slight advantage as they are yet to have a bye (Mareeba’s had one), and have a superior points differential.
The Gladiators have battled a terrible injury toll this season, with as many as 17 registered and regular A-grade players missing due to injury, work, or having moved away. Mareeba can’t make the A-grade finals but Tully still has only the slightest mathematical chance and would need every result and margin to go their way to be any chance of finishing in the top five.