Crowned Champions against odds

Two happy Roosters - Inglewood Roosters players Brent Hearne and Brent Osbourne share a celebration drink after being named in the Queensland Outback side at last weekend's Outback Country Carnival in Ilfracombe. The pair were part of the winning South West Country side.

Pakistan has defied the odds and the experts to lift the Champions Trophy at Lords in the final against India. Pakistan went into the tournament unwanted, but rose to the occasion to beat its nemesis in what was widely acknowledged as the game with the largest ever television audience, with fans of the two cricket crazy nations watching from around the world.
Pakistan’s Hasan Ali, who took 13 wickets in five games, was named Player of the Champions Trophy, and broke into the bowling top 10 ODI bowlers, leapfrogging 12 of his peers.
There was one bright spot for Australia who were bundled out of the race; bowler Josh Hazelwood retains the number one bowling ranking while the Indian plenty love to hate Virat Koli heads the batsmen’s line-up.
With the Australian cricketers due to tour Bangladesh in August and the Ashes series looming, the dispute between the players and Cricket Australia appears far from resolved. The senior Australian players are not in the battle for a better deal for themselves – they are fighting for a better pay deal for the Shield and State players and Women’s cricket. Let’s hope both sides find some middle ground over the next few weeks and the tours go ahead as scheduled.
Before then of course, sport lovers should all be banking as much sleep as possible in preparation for some late nights spent catching all the tennis action at Wimbledon.
– Casey
(As this column is being prepared, like all Queenslanders I am hoping for a vastly improved performance for the Maroons and hope we are going to see a decider at Suncorp in a couple of weeks.)
SEVEN GAMES FOR TIPSTERS TO NAVIGATE
Only seven games in round 16 of the NRL as clubs and tipsters and clubs weather the State of Origin fallout. You need a crystal ball to predict who will be in and who will be out in the round following an Origin game, however, we will do our best and assume that the bulk of players will be back in action for their respective sides and that injuries do not take their toll.
The round opens on Friday night with two games. The Warriors host the Doggies at Mt Smart and the Tigers host the Titans.
The Dogs showed there is still some bite in the side at their last outing and gave the Dragons a hiding. They had a bye last week and no doubt Hasler will be hoping they take their round 14 form on the road to NZ. The Warriors also had the week off after a win over the hapless Titans at CBUS. Catching a Warriors win is almost as difficult as nabbing the Lotto numbers, but I think they will be too good at home.
The Tigers get their chance to add a win to their tally when they host the Titans who have scratched beyond the bottom of the barrel to put together a side after the side has been decimated by injury. Barring injury they will have their Origin reps back here, but I doubt it will be enough to get them off the tarmac.
The Cowboys went down in a thriller against Melbourne last weekend. Both sides showing that with or without their super stars they are genuine contenders in 2017. Back at 1300 smiles this weekend the NQ boys host the Panthers. This will be a tough game as the Panthers look like they are going to put in a strong finish to their season. Hard to tip against the Cowboys on their home turf.
The Raiders and Broncos also enjoyed a bye last round. The week off may have provided enough time and space for coach Ricky Stuart to get his blood pressure back under control after the Raiders were run down by the Panthers in Round 14.
Ben Hunt is back on the bench for the Broncos after a game in the Intrust Super Cup and will be a welcome sight for Broncos fans following the injury to Anthony Milford. It is tough for away teams to win in Canberra, but the Broncos have the better of the head to head stats and a win here will reinforce their chances in September. I think Ricky will have another headache to contend with.
The last of three games on Saturday will see a block buster between the Roosters and the Storm at Adelaide Oval. Deep in AFL territory this should be a great game to showcase rugby league.
Melbourne showed last start that they have plenty of depth and their win over the Cowboys was gritty and determined. The Roosters are flying high and retain their place in the top four. Both sides have named all Origin players. In a game that could go either way, I am swinging towards Melbourne.
The Dragons are back at Jubilee Oval to host the Knights after a miserable performance against the Eels. The Knights were robbed of an upset win over the Sea Eagles and cannot buy a break this season. There are some questions marks around the fitness of captain Gareth Widdop but the Dragons should be too good here. They will certainly need to improve on their last outing and an upset here would be no great surprise.
The round wraps up with the Sharks and Sea Eagles going head to head at Cronulla headquarters. The Sharks snuck home against the Tigers last week but should have a full complement of Origin players back on deck. Their form indicates they will be in the mix when the whips are cracking again this season and should bank a win here. Good tipping.

Golfers are by nature optimists and quite a few of the large group who arrived for the Stableford event last Saturday fitted right into that category. Under a heavy blanket of cloud cover that looked quite ominous, the field got play underway and conditions were reasonably good for the first nine. However, a decision was made to curtail the event to nine holes played for a ball run down when the clouds got even darker and heavy rain stopped play.
Despite the less than ideal conditions there were some good scores on 20 points returned on the front nine until Matt Waterworth produced a score of 23 to claim a win. Bob Watts was the next best after a cutback for the nine handed him second spot.
In the ladies event, Lorraine Evans and Linda Kelly each returned 18 points for the front nine. After the countback, it was Lorraine who got the nod by one point.
Sponsors Tom Fittock and Tric Fittock were happy to hold their own over their sponsorship to a later date when a full 18 hole competition can be played.
The end of month 4BBB medley will be played on Saturday and will be sponsored by Granite Gardens Cottages.
Play commences at 11.45am with a shot gun start. All players are asked to register by 11.30am so the starter has adequate time to send players to their appropriate tees.
ACTION APLENTY AT TANNY
Our Tannymorel correspondent has been very quiet of late however there has been plenty of action over recent weeks at the club.
The Men’s Singles were decided with some great games during the competition. Grumpy defeated Geoff Creighton; Philpsy defeated Aaron; Mick O’Leary beat Walshy and Pete Gynther got up over Koala in the first round. In the next round honours went to Philpsy over Grumpy and Pete Gynther was too good for Mick O’Leary. Which meant that the finalist were Philpsy and Pete Gynther. Congratulations to Philpsy who emerged the winner “A” Singles Champion and he will now represent the club at the upcoming District Singles.
The Monthly Triples competition saw a good roll up of players. Life Member Myrtle Wagner sponsored the day. Philpsy is definitely on a roll he and his team of Marg Wright and Pedro Collis took the honours. The runners-up were Walshy, Gary Farmer and Myrtle herself.
Round 1 Results: – The Summit team defeated Doug Miller Gordie Assay and TB 14-10.matt shepherd Pete Gynther and Mick O’Leary teamed up to defeat Julie Buse Al Buse and Jean Calam 18-5. Tom Senigo, Phil Wagner and Max Holder had a 16-13 win over G. Davis, Noel Fletcher and Johno Johnson. Walshy G. Farmer and Myrtle produced a 20-10 win over Col Johnson’s team. Marg Grayson Sys Butz and Grumpy also had a win. They defeated Marg Martin Yvonne Campbell and W. Nerny 13-11. Philpsy Marg Wright and Pedro Collis had a big 20-5 win over their round one opponents P. Suphelt, G. Rapp and Ed Welsh.
In the second round – Skips only honours went to Grumpy who edged out Johno Johnson 13-12; Col Johnson had a 16-14 win over Ed Welsh. T.B had a 16-11 win over W. Nerney while P. Collis defeated Mick O’Leary 13-11. The Summit had a 13-9 victory over Max Holder. And Myrtle had a 17-13 win over Jean Calam. Another great day’s bowls and the food I hear was top shelf, too.
ON THE INGLEWOOD RANGE
It was another busy day of competition at the Inglewood Sporting Shooters Range. Glen Holmes has been in good form and another good performance on Sunday saw him win the Single Action competition outpointing Peter Solomon and Iain Bowen. In the Pistol competition, Andrew Slack was too strong for Jason Lewis and Ray Dudgeon.
This weekend the club has scheduled Pistol competitions on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
A reminder that visitors are always welcome to check out the action on the range. Contact: The Secretary on SSAAQ49@gmail.com or visit the club’s Facebook page web.facebook.com/SSAAINGLEWOODQ49/
RED HOT PERFORMANCES IN GATEBALL
Conditions were a little gloomy on Friday for the gateball players, but the competition was pretty hot. Six players formed two. Les Williams, John Draper and Jenny Tunbridge began the day playing white balls. Andrea Denkewitz, Margaret Dickenson and Sharyn Roser played red and finished the day with a clean sweep. Sharyn Roser took on the refereeing duties in the opening game which was a see-sawing affair that finished in a nine-all deadlock. After a countback, the Red team claimed the win with one more three-point score.
Grace Howard was a latecomer and joined the White team for the remaining games.
John Draper took up the refereeing duties for the next game which once again went the way of the Red team who scored a more decisive 12-8 win.
Following the break, Les Williams refereed game three. The Red team notched up their third win with a convincing 15-9 win.
In the final game, Margaret Dickenson took up the refereeing duties as the red team wrapped up a winning day scoring a 12-9 win.
All players are being encouraged to take on the refereeing duties and learn the various hand signals associated with the role which like all sports is an integral part of the game.
RAYNER SNAPS WIN AT SPORTERS
Stuart Rayner snapped up a win at Sporters on Sunday morning and relegated Marg Locke to the runners-up position. Rayner also claimed the Pro Pin. The Run-downs went the way of Mark Lynam and Tony Steele. Jarred Irwin had the Best Gross. The Pin Shots on 12 and 17 went the way of Norm Steele and John Rawlings. Sneaking home with meat trays were Phil Zikan and “mine host” of the country club, Meggsy. Same time tee-off next Sunday between 8-8.30am.
SOUTH WEST COUNTRY CONTINUE DOMINANCE
The South West Country side were crowned Outback Champions after two stunning performances at the Outback Country Carnival in Ilfracombe last weekend and continue their seven-year dominance of the Carnival.
The 2017 South West side coached by former Killarney and Cowboys star player Luke Brosnan showed their opposition a clean set of heels in their two games.
The carnival was an opportunity for the South West players including Border Rugby League representatives to impress a panel of selectors from the QRL on hand to name an 18-man Outback Queensland squad to play the curtain raiser to the Cowboys Rabbitohs game at Barlow Park, Cairns in July.
Two of the Inglewood Roosters favourite sons, Brent Hearne and captain coach Brent Osbourne earned the opportunity to pull on the Queensland Outback jersey after impressive performances in the two games and are both excited at the prospect of playing in Cairns.
South West defeated Central West 40-8 and North West 74-8. Despite the big score lines, coach Luke Brosnan, who has been at the helm for the past four years, said bringing the team together is always a challenge but a strong team effort has always brought them success.
The Mt Isa coach Alan Bailley said it was a terrific game of football from both sides.
In the under-20s, the Southern Outback team suffered a first game loss to the Northerners, but swept the competition away in their second game winning 42-14.
The Outback Carnival provides a unique opportunity for our talented players in the region to come under notice. It is a great concept despite the logistic difficulties.
Brent Hearne and Brent Osbourne follow in the footsteps of other BRL players who have tasted success in the Queensland Outback side including former Gremlin Jason Wilmott, Cutters John Trindall and former Tenterfield player Jim Lonergan.
Current Ipswich Jets player Michel Purcell who played for Roma and starred in several Outback Carnivals is a great example of the doors that this carnival can open for talented bush footballers.
Both Hearne and Osbourne will be back in action with their Roosters team mates when the BRL competition continues this weekend. The Roosters travel to Stanthorpe to play the Gremlins and Killarney host Tenterfield.
In TRL games this weekend, the Cowboys meet the 2016 premiers Pittsworth in a rematch of the grand final. Pittsworth sit on 14 points in third spot on the ladder just two points ahead of the Cowboys.
Wattles will be looking to improve their position on the ladder when they take on Souths at Clive Berghofer Stadium on Sunday.
UNDER 43kgs CARNIVAL POPULAR
Forget State of Origin, a group of young rugby league players from Collegians Eastern Suburbs and Stanthorpe are in serious training for the Under 43kgs Zone 5 carnival which will be held in Tenterfield from 3-7 July, and will be out to assert their own brand of Maroon dominance.
The Warwick and Southern Downs team has been training under the guidance of Coach Ross Thorne for two months and have tasted success in tow trial games they have played against Balonne Barwon and Macintyre. The all-important weigh in for the Carnival will be held on 2 July.
Eight teams will be competing in the carnival, with each team playing seven games. The Carnival culminates in the selection of a City Country team to play the final game of the Carnival.
There is a growing popular school of thought that weight for age football should be reintroduced to the junior ranks and the popularity of this carnival is testament to the theory.
Warwick is set to host the Carnival action in 2018.
WARWICK/SOUTHERN DOWNS TEAM:
1. Jamaine Smith
2. Sam Wainwright 
3. Jackson Riley 
4. Ryan Fischer 
5. Blair Olsen 
6. Bevan Costello 
7. Clayton Townsend
8. Jack Rossiter 
9. Jack Talbot 
10. Thomas Doherty 
11. William Gross
12. Julius Richards 
13. Matthew Watt 
14. Jesse Scanlan 
15. Maxwell Wilkinson 
16. David Williams 
17. Carge Martin-Brown
WOLVES HUNTING FOR HOME WIN
The Warwick Wolves will be chasing win number three in this season’s Football Toowoomba premier fixtures when they host St Albans on Sunday at Queens Park.
While it looks unlikely that the Wolves will be contenders in this season’s finals, the club and coach are happy with the way the club is progressing and are hoping that this season will be a good stepping stone towards better things in 2018.
The club has increased their membership this year with a strong Colts side and a Premier team that have been competitive.
The senior players have all been happy taking on leadership roles this season, with many mentoring their younger counterparts.
The Wolves train at 6.30pm Tuesday and Thursday and always welcome the addition of new players.
Admission to the grams at Queen’s park on Sunday is free.The Reserves game kicks off at 1pm and the Premier game at 3pm. There will be a full canteen operating from 12.30pm.
KILLARNEY CUP MEETING SUCCESS
The Warwick Turf Club hosted another successful meeting last weekend with the running of the Killarney Cup.In recent weeks, the club has enjoyed great support from owners and trainers and again on Saturday there were great fields for the seven-event program. The popular Killarney Cup was the race of the day and Sunshine Coast visitor Venecia strolled away with the prize.
Trained by Wendy Bannercot and ridden by claiming apprentice Nathan Fazackerley the five-year old Choisir mare started at $5 and landed some nice bets.The mare had run midfield in Toowoomba on 3 June and certainly took improvement from the run. Last start winner Scrap Copper started equal favourite and finished in second place.Snuggle Pot who over raced for much of the 1500 metre journey finished third. Boomi Dazzler started equal favourite with Scrap Copper, but failed to handle the conditions and finished down the track.
The meeting opened with the Killarney Co-op Maiden and Eagle Farm trainer Jon Walk was on the mark with his galloper Clang Again who was a narrow winner over Oakey visitor Coolmunda and the Ipswich trained Hol’s Springsteen Beaudesert trainer Ben Robinson has been a good supporter of the recent Warwick meetings and was rewarded with a winner in the second event.Starting at $7 Marked Forever put the writing on the wall with a good second in a Kilcoy Maiden at his last start.
Local trainer Les Clarke had good reason to smile when Drum Muster saluted in the third event at odds of $5.The three-year-old Drumbeats colt ridden Kenji Yoshida was having only his fifth race start and held on to beat another local galloper Whispering Wings trained by Gary Schwenke and Grafton galloper Ensign.The rider of the second horse Brad Appo found himself in hot water and was reprimanded by stewards for over use of the whip.
Oakey trainer Patrick Sexton had four runners on Saturday and got the money in race four with Kahneman who started $3.80 favourite.Filling the minor placings were visiting gallopers Pat’s Destiny and Karaharaga.The win would certainly have made amends for the $100 fine Sexton copped for late notification of the jockey for his runner in the previous event.
In the fourth event, the Toowoomba-trained Dangerous Danica gave apprentice Bridget Rooney her second winner in 10 rides since she granted her licence. The winner had good form leading into the race with a second at a recent Kilcoy meeting.Starting at $5 the Tom Dougall trained galloper beat Prince of Peace and favourite Madam Kate.
Landed, landed some good bets in the fifth the David Corey Benchmark 45 over 1350 metres, but not before surviving a protest form the third placegetter Arson Annie.Rider of Arson Annie alleged interference from the 250m.Stewards dismissed the objection.Although the runners brushed near the 150m mark, the interference was not sufficient to reverse the placings given the final margin of two lengths between the runners.
After a swag of meetings over the past month, the Warwick Turf club are not scheduled to host another meeting until the new racing season.
CASEY’S TIPS
Warriors
Tigers
Cowboys
Broncos
Storm
Dragons
Sharks