QUALIFIER SETBACK
LANGER CUP HEARTBREAK:
A THREE-HOUR bus trip home from Toowoomba was ample time for coach Rod Pryor to process his thoughts after another Langer Cup qualification heartbreak for Coombabah State High.
His boys punched above their weight and in their fightback from 18-nil down showed they had the steel to compete at Langer Cup level.
Failure to maintain control of the ball helped St Mary’s blow Coombabah out of the water with two 15minute bursts in either half yielding three tries apiece.
Disappointment reigned but Pryor found some room for optimism after the 36-18 loss on Wednesday.
“The sun will still rise tomorrow,” Pryor said.
“When we didn’t control the ball they put 18 points on us; when we did, we scored 12.
“It’s a simple game and if you do the basics well you give yourselves a chance. When we got possession we came back but in the second half it was the same story.
“We went away from what we wanted to do and unfortunately we don’t get another opportunity this year.”
Coombabah will return to the second-division Andrew Gee Cup for the third year running in 2020.
The school’s focus will be on competing to the best of its ability but every day outside the Langer Cup builds its hunger to return to the Super Six.
“It’s a massive jump from the B competition to the A competition,” Pryor said. “One or two sides, like us, were close but couldn’t make it.
“We’ll be in a good position to work on our combinations and rotations.
“We want to play for now and not worry about tomorrow but hopefully this season will put us in good stead for next year’s qualifiers. Hopefully we can go one better.”
Tries to Coombabah’s Caleb Gould-Waiariki, Tremain Harry and Kobie Mackey-Taylor were complemented by a flawless goalkicking performance from backrower Jordan Lewis.