Stars shine brightly in first round
Australian football kicked off in the Garden City at the weekend, with several stars making their mark in the opening round of the AFLQ Darling Downs season.
In the men’s competition, Coolaroo, South Burnett and Toowoomba all picked up wins, while Goondiwindi and South Burnett notched wins in the women’s competition.
We have run the rule across the opening five games to reveal the best players from round 1.
JOSH ADAMS (COOLAROO)
Adams hit the ground running for Coolaroo this season and was one of the best players in his side’s 125-15 win over Goondiwindi. He was near unstoppable in the forward line as he bagged five goals to put the Hawks to the sword.
JACK MINES (SOUTH BURNETT)
Mines was the player of the match for South Burnett and came up clutch in the Saints’ thrilling 17-point win over South Toowoomba. The South Burnett star was a class above as he kicked a game-high three goals for the contest.
RYAN HODGSON (SOUTH TOOWOOMBA)
While it wasn’t quite enough for him to see his Bombers over the line, Hodgson impressed as one of the South Toowoomba key forwards with two goals in the contest.
JOSH ANDREWS (TOOWOOMBA)
One of the performances of the round, Andrews was immense throughout the contest and kicked six of his side’s 16 goals as the Tigers claimed an emphatic 101-point win.
SHAYE EASTON (GOONDIWINDI)
In a low-scoring contest between Goondiwindi and Coolaroo, the class and experience of Shaye Easton shone through as she dominated the contest and also kicked a crucial goal.
CHRISTINA ASH (GOONDIWINDI)
While goals may have been hard to come by for the most part, Ash led the way and kicked two crucial majors to help the Hawks take home the victory.
ALEXANDRIA ALIFRANGIS (SOUTH BURNETT)
Alifrangis was a perennial threat for the Saints and chipped in with a goal to help her side to a solid 46-19 win.
Honourable mentions: Kayla Smith, Nicole Gunston, Morgan Prior, Coda Stanmore, Bailee Ward, Jason Bethune, Miels Grice, Nick Schmidhauser, Kelly Salmon, Zac Wall and Stuart Bright.