Junior system’s a long-time coming
IT’S been 40 years in the making.
The odds are stacked against them but Coolangatta Tweed are staring down their challengers to get a long-awaited junior program up and running.
The Barbarians, or “Baa Baas”, have confirmed they will enter teams in under-8s, under-10s and under-12s and are also hopeful of getting an under-11s squad together.
“It has always sort of been a senior club,” president Stu Donnelly said.
“We’re thinking it’s time to get things in place. A lot of the players are now having kids so hopefully there is a home for them in a few years.”
Celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, Tweed have always faced stiff cross-code competition given the presence of many rugby league clubs within 15km, including Tweed Heads, Bilambil, Currumbin, Tugun and Cudgen.
Donnelly said it presented “a massive challenge”, as does the lack of divisions available for players in their late teens – though an Xtreme Rugby competition new to the Coast in 2018 is hoped to form a solution.
The Barbarians have battled in the lower half of the first grade competition in recent seasons but hope the establishment of juniors will pay dividends down the track for the senior side of the club.
In the more immediate future, they have been boosted by the return of star Mitch Planten to captain first grade.
The forward, who can cover both lock and No.8, played for Palm Beach Currumbin last season and progressed right through the representative stages to earn selection for the Queensland Country Heelers.
He grabbed that opportunity with both hands, producing a man-of-the-match display in the Heelers’ win over New Zealand’s North Canterbury in June.
Tweed play Springfield in trials this weekend at their home field at Goodwin Park, where they will host Bond Pirates in Round 1 on March 10.