Young guns end year undefeated
AFTER remaining undefeated all season, the pressure was on for the Under-12 Burdekin Canetoads to win, and despite being the favourites, coach Fran Lando said he was nervous ahead of the grand final.
But he had no need to be – the Canetoads were the eventual winners, the score 14-12.
“We probably weren’t allowed to play our best by the other side,” Lando said.
“We’ve got to give Northward credit for getting up in our face and spoiling a lot of our ball and not giving us the chance to get into our groove.
“It was a bit frustrating at times, but we hadn’t been put in that position during the year and we were still able to find a way and that was probably the most pleasing thing.”
Lando said the reason the players were so consistent throughout the season was because they were keen.
“I like to keep them fairly grounded and work them hard and make them get their heart rate up at training and make them work for things,” he said.
“I think probably the key this year was getting that balance right between having a good, hard training session and mixing it with a bit of fun.
“I think in the last few years I have been able to achieve that and that is probably the difference between winning and losing.”
Lando said he felt a sense of relief when the referee blew the final whistle.
“We take every game as it comes,” he said.
“We don’t talk about winning and losing, we talk about playing well and doing our jobs and I think in the end, they were able to overcome the hype about us winning and not losing.
“I am really proud of them, not just as a team but a lot of them have grown as individuals and to be able to see that development in kids is very satisfying.”