Next Geia Up mentality for Townsville Brothers
THEY say 13 is the unlucky number but for Townsville rugby league powerhouse Brothers it might prove the luckiest of them all.
Coach Michael Parker-walshe is dealing with a full-blown injury crisis that has left his squad with 13 unavailable players, but through that carnage has emerged a diamond in the rough.
Under-19s lock Darnell Geia has exploded onto the A Grade scene over the past fortnight, securing man of the match honours against Burdekin in just his second senior start.
“He was up there the week before as well,” Parker-walshe said.
“He had 28 tackles and 18 hitups in about 65 minutes (against Burdekin) so he’s red-hot at the moment.”
While senior footballers like Nathan Norford, Chippie Korostchuk and Sione Lousi still drive the standards at Jack Manski Oval,
Parker-walshe said it was the emergence of young talents like Geia into the top side that had encouraged him most through an adversity-stricken opening month.
“We’ve got a really strong core of senior blokes but over the last few weeks we’ve been able to blood a few of these young guys,” he said.
“They’ve been putting their hand up and with some of the numbers they’ve been pumping out, I’m really, really proud of those guys.
“I think some of them can really excel and we as a club can accelerate their development a little bit so hopefully they can go on to bigger and better things.”
Brothers suffered their first defeat in more than 12 months at the hands of Herbert River in round one as the first wave of injuries set in – opening the door to generation next.
Undefeated in two matches since, Brothers are eyeing another trophy to add to Townsville’s most impressive collection.