NINE GOLD COAST GUNS CRACK COUNTRY SQUAD
WITH a plethora of Gold Coast products to fill the Queensland Country Colts side, calls have only strengthened for the region’s first-grade competition to return to an eight-team battle.
Nine talented members of the Cyclones side who triumphed at the South Queensland Championships have been elevated into the Heelers side who will challenge for the national title.
Among them are the likes of Topi Apatu, Jacob Meyer, Benjamin Tauerihi and Tyler Maxwell, whose current clubs Coomera, Palm Beach Currumbin and Helensvale have not lined up in the Glitter Strip’s top competition this year.
Earlier in the season, three teams withdrew from the Phil Temperton Trophy citing safety concerns that they did not have the players in place to contest scrums without risking injury.
It is a decision that, while coming from a noble place, means Apatu, Mayer, Tauerihi and Maxwell would have to move clubs should their desire be to play among the elite in 2023, particularly given the absence of a colts competition in the city.
Cyclones colts coach Shaun Cole has spoken previously about the need to bring an under-19s format to the Gold Coast once again.
However, should that not eventuate, the Griffith mentor said considerations needed to be made about how to get the likes of Coomera, Helensvale and PBC back into the upper echelon.
He said given those clubs had strong junior bases, a theme replicated across the Coast, every side needed to fight for the top gong to ensure the exciting next generation had avenues to reach their potential in the region.
“It’s a big discussion point for Gold Coast rugby in the off season, even if a team is going to struggle for a year it’s better to have a firstgrade than in second-grade and dominating that comp,” Cole said.
“The focus should be all clubs for a first-grade team and build from there. I think all nine of those boys will be pushing first-grade at their respective clubs, that is if they do stick around.
“I can’t remember how many still have another year to go in the under 19s, but I’m sure that Bond University would look at them to run in that competition (Brisbane Premier Rugby).
“Otherwise all of them are close to playing first-grade at their respective clubs and I expect they’ll be featuring.”
Cole said the nine players selected for the state’s Country side were unsurprising given the form they had shown, with Maxwell in particular proving to be the “really classy” player he had seen for the past two years.
However, he admitted he was shocked that Cyclones captain Mitchell Mcgreevy and Helensvale forward Baxter Brown missed the cut given their efforts throughout the representative season.
Cole’s focus will now turn to guiding his Knights to victory over Surfers Paradise, when his men face a stern Dolphins test featuring former All Blacks halfback Alby Mathewson on Saturday.
But Cole was confident his own number nine had the tools to thwart him. Cameron Dodd has been lauded by his coach as “the most underrated player” on the Gold Coast of the past five years, and as a Kiwi himself is set to take the challenge head on.
Gold Coast Eagles will host Bond Pirates.