Into footy heartland
IT won’t just be players and coaches travelling far and wide for the Queensland Cup’s country round this weekend.
Fans are expected to make long journeys to see state league action tomorrow in remote locations such as Julia Creek, where Tweed Heads will take on Souths Logan, and St George for Burleigh’s clash with Sunshine Coast.
As Queensland Rugby League competitions manager Dave Maiden puts it, “the whole Flinders Highway is probably coming along” to Julia Creek in northwest Queensland.
“Julia Creek have been that excited,” Maiden said.
“They have been lobbying for about four years to get a game so they have worked really hard to make sure they have put everything in place so that it is a success for them.
“Kev Bannah Oval – they’ve done it up and they’ve done some work to the fields and they’ve done the lights and they’ve been fertilising it.
“At this time of the year it is the only green bit in town.”
The Seagulls will get the full country experience, making a seven-hour trek each way starting with a bus trip up to Brisbane, a three-hour charter flight to Cloncurry and then another 140km drive to their accommodation at the Julia Creek Caravan Park.
Burleigh meanwhile will share a charter flight with the TWEED HEADS TO JULIA CREEK BURLEIGH TO ST GEORGE: Falcons out to St George in a trip that will bring back memories for country product Darren Griffiths.
The Bears stalwart spent his entire upbringing in Char- ters Towers and knows well how much footy means to small towns.
“I remember being a kid growing up just hoping I could play A-grade once. I suppose a lot of kids in St George are probably the same, their local team are probably their heroes and then when you get that next level up it is sort of mind-blowing,” Griffiths said.
“When the Cowboys used to have a Young Guns team in the Queensland Cup, they played a game there (in Charters Towers) once and I still remember just being in awe of them.”
Griffiths added it is a good opportunity to be positive role models to the St George youth community, especially given the problems Maiden said the town had faced in the recent past.
“They are a footballing community that had an issue with ice out there,” Maiden said.
“It’s a community issue but the club out there was proactive in trying to stop that, introducing a program of compulsory testing of all players to make sure that they were all good.”
Burleigh, Tweed and their respective opponents will attend community events today, with St George hosting a race day and the McKinlay Races occurring about 100km southwest of Julia Creek.
Hooker Pat Politoni returns to the Bears side but the Seagulls will be without Morgan Boyle, who has travelled to Penrith with the Titans.