Development and Mackay Brothers Junior Rugby League Club go hand in hand.

Having just completed one of their most successful campaigns in the Mackay Junior League in recent years, the Bulldogs continue to unearth an exciting crop of talent through its renowned development program.

It was a season to savour for the Brothers Juniors who annexed the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 age premierships; the Under 14 Boys Plate; Junior Club Championship Shield plus the Ivan Bradford Trophy for most teams on Grand Final Day.

Both Bulldogs’ Under 16 Boys teams reached the semi-finals while the Under 14 Girls side made a Grand Final appearance for the first time.

“We are big on development as a club and how many kids we have playing rugby league” revealed Brothers Juniors President Andrew Battaia.

“Our aim each season is to do all we can to keep our squads progressing through the ranks” he said.

The Bulldogs development program is reaping plenty of dividends.

Six junior Brothers products – back rower Kayne Smith (North Queensland Cowboys), utility half Adam McSherry (Broncos), second rower Jake Bryan (Newcastle Knights), lock Declan Grady (Cowboys), half back Grange Womal (Gold Coast Titans) and centre Norm Campbell (Cowboys) – have signed NRL contracts.

Another three Bulldogs juniors in talented five eighth Flynn Battaia, prop Isaiah Wilson and hooker Cooper Deguara have been invited to trial with the Titans Under 16s in Ipswich at the end of the month.

The skilful Battaia was the Cutters’ top points scorer in this year’s Cyril Connell Cup and has a sound kicking game while the crafty Deguara led St Patrick’s College to Cowboys Challenge Shield and North Queensland Regional titles.

Wilson was drafted into the Bulldogs Under 17s and scored a try double in the club’s 22-12 Grand Final triumph over Souths Sharks.

President Battaia says the Brothers motto is “development takes precedence over premierships.”

“The development work implemented over the past decade by the likes of former Coaching Coordinators Heath Cruckshank and Steve Deardon (father of Cowboys and Origin playmaker Tom Deardon) and current co-ordinator Gary Bassett has reaped plenty of rewards,” a proud Battaia enthused.

Andrew also pointed to the Brothers’ success in the senior ranks with the A Grade Women lifting the trophy and the men's Under 20 and A Grade teams reaching Grand Finals against the Magpies.

“This shows the pathway to the Leprechauns for our junior players which has kept the club in good stead,” he added.

The Brothers Juniors major award winners for 2023 include Player of the Year – Jake Bryan (Under 17s); Most Promising Player – Grange Womal (Under 15s); Club Captain 2024 – Isaiah Wilson (Under 16s/17s) and Representative Player of Year – Toby Woodall (Under 16s).

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Brothers Bulldogs players and officials display their Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 Mackay Junior League premiership trophies

Jubilant Brothers Bulldogs players celebrate their Under 15s premiership victory over Moranbah Miners at the Mackay Junior League Grand Finals at BB Print Stadium

The Pioneer Swimming Club travelled to Townsville this month to compete in the Townsville Tourist Centenary Transition Meet, held from September 2-3.

Nine Dolphins attended the event, having the chance to experience the start of Spring and the glorious warmer weather in Townsville.

The personal bests achieved by the Pioneer Swimming Club at this meet were massive – not just a second or two, but fantastic results of 13 seconds or more in some events.

One of the club’s youngest swimmers, Mia Clarke, collected 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze over the weekend; and Isaiah Espartinez collected 1 silver and 3 bronze.

The Club was extremely proud of all our swimmers who attended this meet.

The Pioneer Swimming Club would like to thank Townsville Tourist Amateur Swimming Club for a fantastic event enjoyed by all.

Contributed by Pioneer Swim Club

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1 – Lily Cole

2 – Stevie Brand

3 – Vitalyi Davidenko

4 – Yasmin Seedwell

5 - Pioneer Swimming Club members at the Townsville Tourist Centenary Transition Meet

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Roller derby is a fast-paced, full contact sport on roller skates, where skaters often take on ‘derby personas’ with creative names, outfits and face paint.

RADfest takes its name from the Regional Alliance Derby, presenting skaters from ages 8 to 18, all the way from Tasmania to Cairns and converging in Mackay for this years’ event.

Mackay City Rollers has secured a lineup of experienced coaches from all over Australia, including ‘Pure NRG’ from Sydney, Col Dennis from Toowoomba, ‘Rumpofsteelskin’ from Brisbane and ‘Heat Seeker’, from Hobart.

‘Heat Seeker’, who co-captained alongside Mackay’s very own ‘Dust Devil’ for Team Australia Juniors in France, is hitting the town fresh from his World Cup success.

This team of talented skaters brought home the Bronze Medal after an epic weekend of derby, wearing the green and gold in Vallance, France.

Joining them on the track for the RADfest weekend are several fellow Team Australia skaters, as well as Mackay’s own home-grown talent and other skaters from across Australia.

Mackay City Rollers President ‘Splitz’ says, “We are excited to have such an array of experienced coaches attending this weekend, to impart their many years of skating and roller derby knowledge to our juniors. Regional events like this are so critical in developing our regional skater[s].”

‘Splitz’ also states that Mackay City Rollers are trying to offer local skaters the highest-level coaching available in Australia to further develop their skills, with many setting their sights on representing Queensland at Nationals in 2024 and competing in the 2025 World Cup in Brisbane.

RADfest will be open to the public from 6pm on Saturday, September 15 at Mackay PCYC. An invitational Level 3 Junior bout (or game) will be held for spectators.

Mackay City Rollers is an inclusive roller derby league catering to both seniors and juniors, with

training every Wednesday at Mackay PCYC. No skating experience is required, and the league provides skates and protective gear to help you get rolling.

Visit Mackay City Rollers on Facebook or email president.mcrollers@gmail.com for more information.

For all media enquiries or photo opportunities at the event, please contact: president.mcrollers@gmail.com or call 0424 349 183.

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Mackay City Rollers is set to host RADfest, a bootcamp and scrimmage event for the annual Junior Roller Derby weekend commencing September 16th and 17th.

Mackay City Rollers put their skills on display at a local skate park.

Photo Credit: Mackay City Rollers

Junior members show great sportsmanship during their training session

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The last of the North Mackay Ladies Club competitions was played last week with two bowl triples.

The winners with a 9 and 8 was Min Andrew as lead, Shirley Bartolo as second, and Kathy Mathews as skip.

In second place was Lyn Maguire as lead, Bev Mc Donald as second and Lorna Bowers as skip with a score of 6 and 12.

Social bowls resumed again this week.

Contributed by Sue Hazledine

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Three Bowls triples winners L-R: Deb Mackenzie, Maryann Bartolo, June Cousen

Two Bowls triples winners L-R:  Kathy Mathews, Shirley Bartolo and Min Andrew

One of Queensland’s finest schoolboy rugby league nurseries Palm Beach-Currumbin State High have staked a genuine claim for the National Schoolboys Cup championship trophy.

The Reds are strong contenders for this year’s national title after capturing the Queensland State Championship and Northern Conference Phil Hall Cup with a resounding 28-0 victory over St Patrick’s College Mackay in Townsville last week.

Regarded as a famous breeding ground for future NRL players, the Gold Coast school have booked a National Schoolboys Cup Final showdown with NSW Southern Conference champions Westfields Sports High after they edged out Patrician Brothers Blacktown 18-17 in the Peter Mulholland Cup final.

This year’s Cup decider will be staged on Wednesday September 13 at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, formerly known as Kogarah Jubilee Oval.

It is a huge achievement by Palm Beach-Currumbin who have produced superb displays in recent weeks to eliminate reigning national champions Ipswich State High and an in-form St Patrick’s College side that clinched the Aaron Payne Cup.

The Reds’ powerful forward pack laid the foundations for victory with Baylen Donald, Isaac Harrison, Jett Jackson, Jaylen Taewa and hooker Will Saunders making an impact along with classy halves Bailey McConnell and Zane Harrison.

The Reds nursery has produced 52 NRL players including former Kangaroos Ben Ikin, Darius Boyd and Ben Hannant and Kiwi Test stars Jahrome Hughes, Sam Perrett and Kevin Proctor as well as Origin stars Tom Dearden, Ryan James and Cody Walker.

Ian Schifilliti’s St Patrick’s squad can hold their heads high after a successful 2023 campaign that included winning the Aaron Payne Cup premiership, reaching the Queensland State Championship final and semi-finals of the QISSRL Confraternity Shield.

By Chris Karas

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St Patrick’s College Mackay’s Opens rugby league team capped a memorable 2023 by winning the Aaron Payne Cup and reaching the final of the Queensland State Championship

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Mackay Table Tennis Tuesday night fixtures September 5, 2023:

Division 1:

Radak (Graham Brake, Mick Ruhl, Lee Brake) d Andro (Robbie Richards, Barry Patterson, George Camilleri) 8-3. Barry d Lee 4, 3, -8, -12, 10.

Joola (Mark Poplawski, Andrew McHugh, Geoff Denman) d Donic (Anne Sheridan, Tony Bowman, Ivan Perkins) 7-4. Andrew d Anne 8, -7, -8, 1, 11.

Tibhar (Steven Whiting, Tim Sheehan, Vince Boeske) d Butterfly (Graeme Walker, Emma Widdup, Allan Edwards) 6-5. Vince d Allan 9, -15, -9, 8, 7.

Division 2:

Stiga (Leo Gilbert, Tony Bowman) d Xiom (Duncan Treloar, Duncan Sheridan) 7-2. Tony d Duncan T -10, 5, 5, 16.

Nittaku (John McGee, David Ting, Will VanDeKaa) d Yasaka (Andrea Nicholson, Peter Goodson) 8-3. John d Peter -9, 6, -1, 7, 10.

Victas (Mark Sleeman, Steve Mathieson) d Gewo (Trent Day, Matthew West) 9-2. Mark/Steve d Matthew/Trent -6, 10, 8, -7, 8.

Division 3:

Elsilon (Jye Callender, Virginia Clayton) d Gamma (Craig VanDeKaa) 7-2.

Beta (Nehmat Dhaliwal, Simon Hogan, Kade Wright) d Zeta (David Symons, Bill Hey) 8-3. Simon d David 7, -7, -4, 9, 3.

Alpha (Ollie Hamelink, Misha Palod) d Delta (Val Austin, Saisha Palod) 5-4. Ollie d Saisha -10, 2, -10, 9, 6.

Mackay Table Tennis Tuesday morning fixtures team winners from the second season:

Div 1 Kevin Abbott, Steve Mathieson, Branko Vucurovic; Div 2 Iris Grasso, Ken Best, Judi Hicks; Div 3 Allison Day, Sharon Muller, Ian Dodds.

Doubles tournament winners: Div 1 George Camilleri, Div 2 Marie Taylor.

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Junior Akshaj Kumari in training at the Mackay Table Tennis Centre

Whitsunday Sea Eagles Under 12s and Under 17s made the trek to Bakers Creek last weekend for AFLQ Mackay Grand Finals and their shot at taking home the cup. Both teams fought hard all day in valiant efforts putting their bodies on the line however were unable to overcome strong opposition.

After an early rise to hit the road for the 7:45am Grand Final time Sea Eagles Under 12s put in superb effort for the entire game against the taller Swans opposition. The early start provided a wet ground with the slippery ball creating challenges for both sides. After a tight first quarter the Swans adapted to the playing conditions and went on to outscore Sea Eagles by a goal in the remaining terms. Sea Eagles put their hearts in it right up until the siren sounded in a 14 – 44 loss.

In what was always going to be a tough match Sea Eagles Under 17s showed courageous effort against season rivals Moranbah Bulldogs eventually ending the game 33 – 59 down. It was a tight contest right up to three quarter time with only two points separating both teams at the start of the final term. Sea Eagles were unable to keep up with the Bulldogs who ran hard in the last to earn their place by putting on five goals to Sea Eagles single. Whitsunday Sea Eagles are proud of Under 17s season with games showcasing the skill of this playing group under the leadership of Coach Dean Armitage.

Next Saturday 16th September sees 2023 Sea Eagles Presentation Day for players and their immediate families to determine who takes out 2023 Best and Fairest awards.

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U12 Sea Eagles chase the ball. Photo Credit: Cody Fowler

Under 17’s match. photo credit: Kylie Allen

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The Don River Dash 2023 also told a unique love story, with rider Justin Burgess proposing to his partner and fellow Don rider Katie Robinson.

Katie is a regular competitor, having secured third place in a previous year, and while not achieving a podium finish this year, she received something better.

Justin had been planning the proposal for months, having asked Katie’s son for permission to marry his mom.

Justin’s son, Owen, safeguarded the ring for weeks, until the last day of the Dash, when Justin got on one knee after Katie had crossed the finish line.

With an excited crowd watching, Katie said yes.

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Justin Burgess and Katie Robinson with big smiles and happy hearts. Photo credit: Katie Robinson

The 2023 Don River Dash celebrated its biggest year yet with an impressive 97 cars taking to the track and just over 200 bikes revving their engines at the starting line on Saturday.

The oldest rider was 71 years old and the youngest had just turned 16.

“The Don River Dash is the pinnacle of off-road racing in our region, and it has continued to grow in popularity since the first event in 2019,” said Mayor Julie Hall.

“The event puts Bowen and the Whitsundays on the map and importantly gives our region a major economic boost throughout the three-day event.”

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The Don River Dash is over for 2023, with high thrills and spills energising Bowen for one powerful weekend. Photo credit: Cory Aldridge

As the season heads to the pointy end, three Whitsunday teams had to battle for a place in the Grand Final with the Premier Men already securing their place.

The U13 Div1 and U15 FQPL knew they had to win some big battles to get through.

The Under 13s played first against an evenly matched Lions team.

Opportunities presented for both sides with the Lions goalkeeper making three brilliant saves to stop almost certain goals.

A penalty for Lions halfway led to a goal off an unfortunate deflection and they took a 1-0 lead into the half time break.

The second half saw the Whitsundays lift even more with a strategic formation change seeing our strongest attackers peppering the Lions goal with plenty of shots.

They should be proud of what they and the kids have achieved have and the massive improvement during the course of the year to be at a point where they were genuine Grand Finals contenders.

The U15 FQPL semi-final was always going to be a hard one against a very consistent Dolphins team. Dolphins started fast and dominated possession from the outset.

A lapse in our defence lead to a very early goal.

Their second wasn’t far behind putting us 2-0 down.

However, the Whitsunday team rallied and started to get on a roll, pressuring the Dolphins defence with plenty of creative play.

With only minutes to go in the first half, Reef Peel unleashed an absolute screamer from long-range bringing the score to 2-1 at the half time break.

With no goals added in the second half, it was a disappointing result for the team, but they should be proud of their results in the latter part of the season.

The Premier women have booked themselves a spot in the grand final with 6-0 win against Country orange.

It didn’t take the ladies long to find their groove with Lena breaking through the Country defensive line to put Whitsundays 1-0 up after 6 minutes.

With 10 minutes to go, the Whitsunday ladies were awarded a free kick outside the box and Violet took coach Peter’s instructions to “drop it in the space” one step further by placing it in the net instead. The last goal of the night came a few minutes later with Akema getting on the end of a cross by Willow.

A proud result for the Whitsunday club having both senior Premier teams in the grand final. The army will descend on Mackay Football Park next Saturday with supporters’ buses organised. Go Whitsunday!!!

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The Accom Whitsunday Trail Fest saw a massive 150 participants taking on four different local trails last weekend.

The most difficult hike, the Shokz Ultra 58km boasted a record 27 registrations and 25 runners on the day.

“We’re really happy with that outcome,” Race Director Andrea Farley explained.

The 58km winners were Cristian Smith from Mackay and Sarah Parkins from Alligator Creek.

Across the day, four more records were broken.

Demi Caldwell from Mackay broke the 28km women’s record, completing the trek in 2:23:56, breaking the previous record of 2:37:06.

Proserpine doctor Damien Messmer broke the 28km men’s record, finishing in 2:22:40, the previous record being 2:29:44

The 10.5km Honeyeater records were broken by Zane Devine, in 1:02:27, and Aimee Sulzenberger in 1:03:33, both of the Whitsundays.

For the 1.4km Kids Beach Bash, 27 keen athletes dashed across the Airlie Beach foreshore.

“It was such a good day with a great turnout and a great atmosphere,” Andrea said.

“We had a lot of interest from Mackay, as well runners from Western Australia and Spain.

“We hope next year will be bigger and better.”

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As the days get longer and warmer and spring comes to our paradise, the bowls at our club are in full bloom all around the district.

Wednesday afternoon Jackpot bowls was won by Tony Whitehorn's team with a score of 33-14 with Graham Cowling and Eric Barnard.

Saturday morning Scroungers final game saw Warren Mills win again with some precision bowls and white washing the field.

The winners then played the final and first round winners of Russell Jackson, Gary Kiff and Margo Stanley play out the final.

It was Margo who won easily with 2 ends to be played she was so far in front and couldn't be beaten in an outstanding performance.

Meanwhile in Bowen, 14 teams playing for great prize money saw Tony Whitehorn's team of Betty his better half Helen Ward back from South Australia and the very reliable Col Morris beat all contenders to represent our little club in Paradise and do us proud.

Sunday afternoon Social bowls saw Fiona Greener draw out the lowest winning score.

It was John Askew with his team of Janet Jacometti and Graham Cowling taking home the winning prize, and it was the new A Grade Mens singles champion Alan Pershouse take home the prestigious Health Hub award.

Next week we shall report on the schools finals and the Champion of Champions and the Five a side competition at Seaforth

Contributed with thanks to Mark Mawson.

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This week has been a busy week once again.  

The Men's Senior Singles competition is underway.  

On Wednesday Philip Brown defeated Bruce Uhe 25 – 16.

On Sunday Mike Harrison defeated Bryan Davy 25 - 19.  

Dale Haack is to play Ken Watts and Sandy Daffara is to play Luchie Gardel.  

It is hoped that these games can be played this week so that the Semi Finals and possibly the finals can be played this weekend.  

Our club entry into the Champion of Champion events needs to be confirmed at the end of this week with the Champion of Champions being held at St Helens the following weekend.

Also in Club Competition was a game of the "B" Pairs Gavin Noonan and Todd Leys defeated Bruce Uhe and Mike Harrison 27-18.  

They are now ready for the other Semi Final to be played so that the Final can be played prior to the Champion of Champion event to be held at Proserpine October 21-22.

Our Men's Triples team competed in the Champion of Champion Triples held at Souths Suburban on the weekend.  

Shane Kinnear, Dale Haack and Wayne Handley were defeated in the Saturday afternoon game by Sarina.  

The event was won by Souths Suburban with runners up Marian.

Best wishes to Toby Craig who is playing in the Champion of Champion B Singles at Airlie Beach this coming weekend.

Nominations for Board positions for the Proserpine AGM close this weekend with the AGM being held on Saturday, October 7 at 10am.

Contributed with thanks to Heather Brown.

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Our Mondays self-selected triples Winners for the afternoon were R Stitt, A Vigar, and A Rolfe.

Best other were B Myers, C Frew, and L Knight.

On Tuesday winners were J Vigar, D Slater, and L Nightingall.

Winners for our Fun Friday afternoon were A Lancaster, L Fox, and J Chadwick.

Friday Barefoot bowls winners were Wendy, James, and Dave.

Sunday winners came out on Rink 4.

They were L Suann, I Wheeler, and W Coonan.

The jackpot didn’t go off.

In the Men’s Pairs Final: M Drummond A Rolfe defeated G Colquhoun G Danvers

As most of the visitors have headed home bowls will now be played Sunday Tuesday and Friday Night.

Contributed with thanks to Penny Warren.

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Jamie Maher and Jamie Woods kicked off the mornings action at the Airlie Beach Bowls Club, with a place in the preliminary final the reward for the winner.

Jamie Maher got out of the blocks early taking a slim 2/0 lead over Woodsy. Woodsy then took the 3rd leg, before Jamie went on a mini run to make it 4/1 at the break.

Woodsy looked a little out of sorts, and was doing all he could to stay in the contest when play resumed, but Jamie took full advantage of the situation, and claimed a spot in the preliminary final by winning the match 8/5.  

Woodsy had a second bite of the cherry thanks to his top 4 finish this year, where he took on, and dispatched of, Kameron Reason by 9 legs to 2 in the 1st semi-final of the day.

Woodsy upped his game and had to, hitting a fine 180 to empathise the point, as Kam was putting in some very good performances over the back end of the season.

That win put an end to Kam’s season however, and sets up a mouth-watering clash between Woodsy and Dom Friend in the first prelim final next week, where we will say goodbye to one previous champion.

There was a 180 in the other semi-final also between Joe Wilson and Gary Robbie, which went the way of Gary, but unfortunately for Gaz, that’s all he would be celebrating on the day, as Joe claimed a solid 9/2 victory.

Joe will take on Jamie Maher in the other prelim final in a week’s time, where he will be looking to make his first grand final appearance, whereas Jamie on the other hand, will be looking for back to back grand final appearances, and a chance to go one better than his disappointing runner up finish from 2022.

In the two Hetlock Cup semi finals, Andy Peel defeated Jayden Lloyd by 6 legs to 2, and in the other semi, Hawkeye Rick reached his first final in his debut season, as he defeated Art McMinn by the same 6/2 scoreline. That sets up a Hetlock Cup final between Andy and Hawkeye next week.

The Premier League is sponsored by Mika Airlie, Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach and Master Butchers Whitsunday & MBW On the Barbie.

Contributed with thanks to Jamie Maher.

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Kam Reason (L) walks away as Jamie Woods (R) sets himself at the oche. Photo supplied

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