It was a dour weekend of results as Whitsunday Brahmans faced off against Mackay Magpies at Les Stagg oval for their NAIDOC Week round on Saturday, taking on the travelling side in three games across three grades.
The Under 20s were the first to fall in a series of three losses at Les Stag, losing out to 12-30 against the Magpies.
Under 20’s coach Trevor Nosworthy said they were “out enthused by a strong Magpies side in the first half.”
“We worked our way back into the game well in the second, but unfortunately weren’t able to turn opportunities into score board points.”
Jack Dwyer was strong through the middle with Jett Hiscox showing great versatility again this week.
The reserve side didn’t fair much better against the Sugar City travellers, losing out 20-46 in a second-half blowout.
Reserve Grade Coach Matt Court said it was much of the same story as the U20s.
“We can’t compete for the full 80mins; we can match it with any team in the comp but we always end up self-destructing and going away from doing the simple one percenters,” he said.
“When we play smart footy we play good footy and put points on with ease.”
He said fatigue was entering the sides game every week, which leads to those silly decisions.
Finally, the A Grade clash was upon the home fans, and it produced the closest of the three matches.
As part of NAIDOC Week celebrations, the A Grade Brahmans pulled on an Indigenous Jersey streaked with red footprints representing those passed on from massacre, and blue circles to represent the Proserpine River and Cedar Creek Falls.
It was designed by local artist, Leo Gabey.
The kangaroo paws in black represent the Proserpine Rock Wallaby, and hands with a boomerang signified hunting of that very same species of marsupial, and six dots across the jersey represented the Gabey family and elders.
All seventeen jerseys were auctioned off after the game.
It was a more tense affair than the previous games, with a final score of 12-26 as Magpies came out the victors three from three.
Brahmans face off against Brothers in Mackay this weekend to reignite their fighting spirit against an old rival.
Brahmans suffered at the hands of three travelling Magpies’ teams last Saturday