The May Day long weekend saw all teams have a bye in the Mackay Rugby competition.
The reason was so that teams could travel to Rockhampton to trial for the Central Queensland Bushrangers representative teams.
Players from Bowen, Whitsunday, and Mackay were selected in the Mackay Stingers teams in Senior Mens, Under 19 Mens and Open Women divisions.
A total of 25 senior men, 16 under 19 men and 16 Open women all travelled to Rockhampton to play against teams from Rockhampton Brahmans, Central highlands, and Wide Bay for positions in the CQ bushrangers rep teams that will compete in the Queensland Country Championships later in the year.
The Whitsunday raiders were well represented in all teams with 11 senior men, 4 Under 19 men and 8 Open women players representing the mighty Raiders.
The senior men’s team had a big weekend with a game each day.
Of these, the Stingers won 2 and lost the final game by 1 point, which gave them the CQ Championship again, for the 2nd year in a row.
Well done to the players and coach Andre Houston for their dedication and time.
The under 19’s unfortunately didn’t win a game but showed great improvement over the 2 games and showed great skill in playing together for the first time and improving all the time.
The open women were in a similar position to the U19’s, minimal training with small numbers, but again showed improvement in their two games.
We wish all players that have been selected in the CQ Bushranger teams, at time of printing these are U19 mens, Manaia Hauiti, Tristian Sainsbury, Josh Groenewald and Jack Briskey.
For the Open Women Bella Cain, Shakaya Costello and Deakoda Costello made the shadow players list. Congratulations to these PWRUC players
Contributed with thanks to Craig Spence
Under 19s playing their best
Whitsunday Open Women’s showed massive improvements
Senior Mens winning 2 of 3 games
