SUPER SATURDAY FOR PITTSWORTH
Country town buzzing ahead of Q-Cup fixture
RUGBY LEAGUE: While Saturday’s Intrust Super Cup match in Pittsworth is centred on Redcliffe and Souths Logan, the ramifications will last for a long time in the community.
That is the opinion of Pittsworth Danes president Greg Quinn, who will see a year of planning come to fruition over the next few days.
After the continued success of the QRL’s Country Week last year, which saw Goondiwindi chosen to host a game, Quinn knew that Pittsworth wanted to have its opportunity.
“This is something that we’ve been working to for nearly 12 months,” Quinn said.
“Pittsworth is a proud football community, and the buzz around, not only in town but also further afield, is great.
“It’s picked up in the last couple of weeks. We’ve been advertising it a bit more from the original notification, and people have certainly been keen.
“Not only just because of the game itself, but we will have players and officials in town from Friday right through to Sunday.”
Something the Danes have looked to incorporate throughout the proceedings is their juniors, who will be heavily involved in the weekend.
Boys and girls teams will be involved in junior fixtures against Brothers and Highfields respectively tomorrow night, with further games on Saturday morning.
“The Intrust Super Cup teams will be a part of the Friday night games, providing
‘‘ AT THE END OF THE DAY, DESPITE THE SENIORS HOSTING THE EVENT, IT’S ALL ABOUT GENERATING INTEREST IN THE YOUNGER GENERATION AND BROADER FOOTBALL COMMUNITY.
GREG QUINN
support and running water, which will be exciting for them,” Quinn said.
“There will also be junior games on Saturday morning, and as an exciting prelude to this, the NRL guys will be going along with a few development officers to schools today.
“At the end of the day, despite the seniors hosting the event, it’s all about generating interest in the younger generation and broader football community.”
With plenty of juniors set to stick around and watch Redcliffe and Souths Logan, Quinn said they would have the opportunity to take plenty in from watching the state wide competition, as well as hoping to attract more to the club.
“These are potential future NRL players, and we will get to see how good some of these players are,” he said.
“It’s the next level down from the NRL and people are excited to see that.
“From a participation point of view, we hope this helps drive increased numbers through the juniors, and lights a fire that they want to be a part of it next year.”
Pittsworth is no stranger to having juniors push through the the Intrust Super Cup level, with Mitch Carpenter making his mark for the Ipswich Jets.
“A big part of the player group went down to what turned out to be Mitch’s 51st game and clapped him onto the field,” Quinn said.
“To see him playing at that level after being a Pittsworth junior, it creates discussion and helps players at the club see that this is achievable.
“He’s a guy from the local community, his family still live in the community and one day he could move back here.”
For Souths Logan coach Jon Buchanan, the round allows his coaching staff and players to give back to regional areas.
“This will be about my fifth or sixth (Country Week), and it’s always good to get out into the community and see how important rugby league is to the areas we’re sent to,” he said.
“Players are looking forward to it and coaches always look forward to getting away. We’re all really excited to get out to Pittsworth this weekend.”
Buchanan said he had been blown away with the reception his teams had received in the past from regional towns, and had grown fond of the country hospitality.
“It’s the little things. Obviously we get really decent crowds, but it’s more about how much effort goes into making us feel welcome,” he said. “A lot of people go to a lot of effort just to make sure we’ve got good food to eat and stuff like that.
“It makes you really appreciate that rugby league is a blue-collar game and how hard people will work to contribute to the game.
“The game of rugby league can tend to neglect those grassroots areas and it’s good that we can put something back into that area.”
The South Burnett region hasn’t missed out, with Nanango hosting the blockbuster between Sunshine Coast and Norths on Sunday.
Currently the Falcons sit in top spot, with Norths in fifth and pushing for an important top-four finish.