Young Miners primed to break grand final drought
THE streets of the CBD have been decorated with balloons and streamers in the past three weeks for the Charters Towers Under 19 Miners who this Sunday head into the TDRL grand final against Brothers.
The Miners, who have not had a senior team in the grand final for more than two decades, were impressed by the success of the young Charters Towers team this season.
Club spokesman Jeff Burton said the young Miners had a great season, missing out on the minor premiership by one
win. “Out of the 16 games played, we only conceded two games. One of them was to Brothers and one was to Centrals,” Burton said.
Burton said three of the
Miners spent a lot of the year also playing in the A Grade competition, something the team had benefited from.
“Braithen Knox, Tai Laidlow and Joel Baldwin, we’ve been able to bring those boys back and they’ve come into our Under 19s side and that’s been good,” he said.
“Those boys played in the Blackhawks Under 21 squad and they’ve been great for our club. For young fellas they’ve performed remarkably well.”
Burton said the run into the grand final had not been an easy one for the Miners, who were downed by Brothers in the first finals round. He said the loss had been particularly disappointing given the Miners led the Brethren for 63 minutes of the 70-minute game.
Burton said the loss meant the team had to play the Burdekin last weekend, and the price of not having the week off had been steep.
“Burdekin were really the big improvers in the back end of the season,” he said.
“It was a bit of an arm wrestle, but we stamped our authority and came away with the win. Unfortunately Blake Heitmann scored a great individual try with three minutes remaining and broke his collarbone.
“There’s also a very slim chance Braithen Knox will be taking the field as well. He has a serious ankle injury and after training this week he looks doubtful to play.”
Burton said the early end to the season for Heitmann was particularly sharp after the fullback was awarded the TDRL best back for 2021.
“He’s had an outstanding season. He’s a big part of what we do at the back,” he said.
“But we’ll have a minor reshuffle in our backline going forward. The boys are very keen. In the two finals that we’ve played, we’ve had huge numbers turn up in Townsville to support them.
“We’re expecting even more this weekend. Those lads will go out there and try to do the best for everyone.”
A supporter bus is travelling to Townsville on Sunday for the 10.30am game. Anyone interested in booking a seat should contact Tracey Lawlor on 0437 335 023.
Details of the bus trip can be found on the Charters Towers Miners Senior Rugby League