Brothers hang on
Centrals provide tough contest for TDRL ladder leaders
BROTHERS have kept their perfect TDRL record intact with a grinding 18- 14 victory over Centrals at Jack Manski Oval on Friday night.
The Brethren were missing 10 players for the match against the Tigers, with the likes of Cade Maloney and Sam Foster called up for Blackhawks duties in the Queensland Cup.
But with veteran Roy Baira and rising star Jordan Kenworthy stepping up to fill the void, Brothers held off a physical challenge from Centrals to cement top spot on the ladder.
“Centrals are a tough side and there’s a good rivalry there so it was a pretty good hitout. Everyone was hurting after the game, but it was good to get the result,” stand- in captain Tennyson Elliott said.
“We’ve got 10 players out so we’ve had a lot of young players come up and a few juniors made their ( Agrade) debuts as well.
“One bloke in particular, Adam Whyte, had only trained with us for 20 minutes on the Thursday and ended up playing, but he handled it pretty well.
“We’re just hanging in there at the moment through injuries, but that’s just a part of footy.”
Baira had called time on his playing career following last season’s grand final victory, but Elliott said the wily veteran didn’t miss a beat after getting a late call- up to the starting side.
“Roy got chucked in off the bench and played 80 minutes at hooker and he’s 39 years old,” Elliott said.
“He’s just inspirational. When you’ve got Roy Baira in your team, you always go in confident.”
Meanwhile, Norths returned to form with a 36- 18 victory over Char- ters Towers at Peggy Banfield Park on Saturday night, and in yesterday’s game Herbert River thumped an undermanned Burdekin 50- 4.
The Crushers were without former Cowboys forward Ben Spina, who was unavailable because of work, and club junior Kieran Quabba, who was 18th man for the Townsville Blackhawks in their game against North Devils yesterday.
“We had a good game, but we also have to remember that Burdekin were doing it tough with player availability today,” Crushers president Joe Pennisi said.