State honour for Northern pair
The Northern schoolboys rugby union team finished its state championship campaign on the Gold Coast with two players selected to represent Queensland at the Australian Schools Rugby Championships in July.
Inside centre Sean Weir was selected for the Queensland 1 team, while rangy lock Wil Hope earned a spot in the Queensland 2 team after a fantastic tournament.
Northern finished its state championship with a 26-19 win over Wide Bay on Sunday morning as the team missed out on major placings.
The 17-18 years boys won just one of their five regular fixtures and failed to qualify for semi-finals on Saturday.
Northern ran in four tries against Wide Bay for their biggest points total of the week with Townsville First XV rugby favourites Josh Tonkin, Vernon Bond, Hilton Robinson and Reagan Knowles all cashing in on the try-scoring bonanza.
Northern coach Mark Moxon credited his team for fighting until the final whistle in every game.
“The talent pool this year was very good and the games were very good,” Moxon said.
“Our defence was rock-solid pretty much the whole tournament, we got a bit busted with injuries but in terms of rugby experience the boys got a lot out of it.
“A lot of our team were year 11s so they’ll be back next year which is fantastic.”
Northern started the championship strong on Thursday when they beat Capricornia 19-0 thanks to a 14-point haul from Ignatius Park College halfback Marley Scarff.
But it was all downhill from that point as they fell to South Coast, Darling Downs, Sunshine Coast and Met North in their next four fixtures.
One consolation was that most defeats were by a respectable margin, with the largest being 36-10 to eventual runners-up South Coast after trailing 1210 at halftime.
Moxon also applauded Townsville referee Clancy Blacklock for a great tournament with the whistle after the TDRU development officer was invited to officiate on the Gold Coast.
“He’s an old Iggy Park boy and he actually got to referee one of the semifinals yesterday and the third vs fourth playoff today,” Moxon said.
“He did a fantastic job and he got big wraps from people down here.”