WALLACE NAMED THE CDRL’S BEST
JACOB Wallace has smashed the field to win the Cairns District Rugby League’s Gold Medal, as Ivanhoes swept the major awards. Wallace was a clear winner, beating his nearest rival by eight votes, while Maidens captain Jo Kerr won the Deb Gallop Medal as the best player in the women’s competition.
AN UNHERALDED workhorse has been awarded the highest honour in the Cairns District Rugby League, with Ivanhoes hooker Jacob Wallace entering the record books as the 2021 Gold Medal winner.
Wallace is among the most consistent footballers in the CDRL, which he proved time and again for the Knights in their run to the finals.
And now he has the gong to prove it, running away with the medal as he finished a phenomenal eight points clear of his nearest rival.
He was once part of the Northern Pride’s Emerging Pride program for promising footballers, and played in the junior grades for the Intrust Super Cup club. In 2020, he suited up for the Pride in a preseason trial, proving he remained on the club’s radar.
A tough defender and a ball-running, play-making No.9 with quality vision and a lethal right boot, Wallace is among Jono Zangrande’s leading men in the Ivanhoes’ Agrade side as they prepare for a Yarrabah Seahawks outfit known for its attacking prowess in the elimination final.
Wallace, halves Zane Knowles and Rhylee Herd, and fullback Rhy Young hold the key to Ivanhoes’ success given their important positions on the field, but Zangrande said the entire squad – almost all of whom developed or played most of their footy at the Smithfield club – had to be ready to rip in.
“You have to get it done from the start, that’s the thing with sudden-death finals, you have to get in and play,” he said. “We’re about as ready as we can be.
“We have strength across the park; we’re not there to make up the numbers.
“We’ve built that side too, we haven’t bought any players.
We brought in Murph (Dave Murphy) to lead the younger guys and teach them, but the rest are guys who have been here for along time.”
It was an outstanding night for Ivanhoes, who were named the Jack Seary club champions, while captain Jo Kerr was awarded the Deb Gallop Medal for the player of the year in the first women’s competition in a decade.
Ivanhoes will have three teams in the finals, which kick off this Sunday – and you can watch every minute of every game on the Cairns Post website. Readers must have a subscription to view the games.
The U18s elimination final between Brothers and Kangaroos will kick off more than nine hours of action, culminating in what promises to be an epic A-grade qualifying final between two-time defending premiers Mossman-Port Douglas Sharks and Innisfail Leprechauns.