Mixed SEQ carnival for Downs
With spots on the South Queensland country team up for grabs, a number of Downs representatives may have missed their chance after an injury-ravaged senior side crashed out against their coastal counterparts.
Their disappointing showing however set the stage for the Downs colts to steal the spotlight instead.
With their counterparts still reeling from two losses, the colts managed to ensure it was a completely different story for them as they managed to chalk up two victories against the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
Their championship victory made sure that the trip to Palm Beach was not made in vain.
The seniors’ first game against the Gold Coast though saw them fall foul of bad luck, setting the tone for the rest of the campaign as the treatment room filled with Downs players..
“They did really well but some major injuries upset our game pretty early on,” coach Rob Johnston said.
Their second clash against Sunshine Coast proved just as unfruitful, despite the close scoreline.
With even more reps falling due to injury, Downs rallied to bring it close this time out.
“It didn’t help though, but we still didn’t play well, although we did bounce back,” Johnston said.
“We fixed up a lot of pieces because we were terrible in the scrum on Saturday.”