City team flexes up for 84- 1 rampage
TOWNSVILLE flexed its muscles against Central Highlands to score an epic 84- 1 win in Emerald.
Daniel Pickering and Shane Hackett scored three tries each in the one- sided contest, which Townsville and Districts Rugby League ( TDRL) officials hope will lead to a greater push for more grassroots representative games for local A grade players.
The Townsville team was made up of players drawn from TDRL A grade clubs and travelled to Emerald during the competition’s bye weekend.
“Of course you’d be happy with a score like that,” Townsville coach Cameron Miller said.
“Unfortunately the Highlanders weren’t the strongest opposition, or not as strong as we thought they’d be.
“There was big difference in the physicality side of things but nothing can be taken away from our boys.
“They spent eight hours on a bus, popped into the hotel and then went straight out to the field.
“We had a game plan of being strong up the middle and with the forward pack we’ve got, we were able to do that pretty easily.”
Miller said Hackett, from University Saints, and Bowman, from Western Lions, were among Townsville’s standout players, as was Pickering, who played at centre.
“Daniel was a class above to anyone else; he was exceptional,” Miller said.
“Shane was extremely good with ball in hand and Nathaniel did an outstanding job at fullback, even though he plays his club footy at halfback.
“I think our guys deserve a lot of credit for what they did this weekend.
“It was their week off from TDRL and it’s four weeks out from finals, but putting on this Townsville jersey means a lot to them.
“Hopefully the rest North Queensland region gets on board.”
Miller said no other representative team in the North Queensland region would have been able to match Townsville’s class.
“I don’t think Cairns or Mackay would have been able to compete with us,” he said.
“Even if we had stronger opposition last night I don’t they would have competed with us.
“We stuck to our game plan from the first minute right to the end; we didn’t go away from it at all.” of the country