Well another season has come and gone, with the completion of the 2003 BJRL U15A competition. I may be accused of bias because of the eventual outcome of last year's competition, but despite some great games, this year never really did live up to the excitement of last year's competition.
I think there were a number of reasons for this:
* Whilst the lower teams were more competitive overall, there were probably less teams that seemed capable of winning the comp compared to last season when 6 teams all seemed to have a realistic chance coming into the semi-finals.
* The unfortunate decision to promote Mustangs to the "A" competition - they ended up struggling in the C's - and the impact that had on the opening of the comp, and subsequent need for byes - surely some trial system must be introduced pre-season when a team is upgraded more than one grade to ensure they are competitive.
* The huge injury toll that most teams, particularly Centenary, confronted during the year, and subsequent forfeits which no-one likes to have to give or receive.
* The seven team semi-final series (including a week off) which was not a great way to finish the season, nor reward consistent performance during it, especially when teams were forced to back up midweek after the state U15 championships, and play while their state representative players were away.
It was not all bad by all means, and some of the positives were:
* The standard of football and sportsmanship was very high with very few sendoffs
* A Brisbane team (Redlands) won the statewide Foundation Shield
* 7 players from our comp were selected for Queensland U15 (Jay Aston, Matt Smith, Lagi Setu, Nathan Strudwick, Lauchlan Witt, Matt Sepelini and Alex Tallon) Setu with 3 (Jay, Lagi and Alex) going on to make the Australian Merit side.
A brief summary for each team is given below, and I have nominated a few players who impressed me in the games I saw (sorry - I do not know some of their names):
Mustangs: Stepped up 2 grades to join the competition, and were in trouble immediately with big losses to Redcliffe and Souths. Struggling for numbers and with Redlands as their next opponent they chose to withdraw from the competition leaving 9 teams to battle out the rest of the season.
Holy Spirit: It was felt that Holy Spirit may improve this year, however the entry of Norths into the A competition meant that new talent on the northside was hard to come by for them and they struggled throughout the season, despite a number of gutsy performances, including their one win of the season over Norths and a thrilling draw with Centenary. The players they had always gave 100% and they never gave in, but probably lacked the class of some of the other teams in the comp when games were on the line. Their lock, though lacking in size was particularly impressive and played well above his weight.
Centenary: Undoubtedly the disappointments of the season, after making the preliminary final last year, struggled with injury and player availability throughout the year and crashed to finish in 8th position. Even on the rare occasions most of their rep players were available they struggled to find the form of last year, and their season had few highlights with their season entering a downhill slide that never ended after their second game hammering of Norths. Only twice more would they celebrate wins during 2003, over Easts and Holy Spirit. Lauchlan Witt impressed in all the games he played and it was unfortunate he was robbed of the chance to play for Queensland through a training mishap.
Norths: The Norths team entered the A comp this year admit some controversy in Junior League circles re alleged player "poaching" by some clubs, but in fact did not have any "A" players from 2003 in their side. Probably because of the step up in class for the players they struggled in the early part of the season, but once they adapted to the pace of the competition they performed very well in the second round, at one stage winning three straight, and also beating Redcliffe, despite the loss of damaging prop Isaac Schenke with a broken collarbone. Unfortunately they did not perform well in their semi appearance against Easts and were comfortably defeated. Clayton Hoet impressed throughout the season as did their halfback Jacob Faue with Luke Samoa also very impressive.
Easts: Showed the benefit of having played in the A competition last year and were competitive throughout, but lacked a real match winner to break open a game when the opportunity presented itself. They also seemed to suffer from lapses in concentration at critical times costing them wins on a couple of occasions. Put in a very solid performance to knock over Norths in their first semi final, and were desperately unlucky to be beaten by Redcliffe in their final game of the season at Suncorp stadium. Lachlan was a non-stop worker for them in the second row, whilst David Tyrell was also impressive at either lock or in the backs.
Souths: Were the surprise packets of the regular season, and the only team to lower Redlands colours during that time, finishing on equal points with Logan Bros and Arana. They proved almost unbeatable at home, their only loss there being a narrow one to Arana late in the season. Their performance was a real surprise as they lost Kruize, Junior and Beau during the off-season and had Mase struggling with an injured knee for a large portion of the season. After a fist up win over Redcliffe in the semis they faded with consecutive losses at Arana and in the rematch against the Dolphins ending their season. Their big front rower was great throughout the year, and Mase still displayed some flashes of brilliance despite his injury.
Redcliffe: The season could be regarded as an improvement for the Dolphins with them moving from sixth to fifth during the premiership rounds, but apart from their elimination semi win over Souths they did not beat a team in the top four, despite the undoubted quality of their players. Played probably their best game of the season in the elimination semi against the Magpies, but that was to be as far as they would get, with Arana eliminating them in the knockout semi. Injuries also took their toll with a number of their most solid performers, inclding Joel and TJ, finishing the season on the sideline. Wieger Andrew Rickard looked dangerous, whilst Tim Yee was impressive as well.
Arana: After the excitement of being premiers last season the toughness of backing up was immediately obvious when the Panthers squandered a big lead against Logan Bros to lose by 2 points in the opening game of the season. This game was also to begin a litany of injuries which was to extend right through to the final game of the season. The team steadied to only lose one more game in the first round, once again by 2 points, to Redlands, qualifying for the Chairman's Trophy when Souths upset Logan Bros late in the first round. The Chairman's Trophy game was a replica of the 2002 clash with Redlands establishing an early lead befre Arana fought back, with Redlands running away with the match in the end. The team played solidly through the second round, gaining revenge against Logan Bros, but going down heavily to Redlands, only Arana's third loss in three years at Dawson Pde. An injury forced forfeit to Redcliffe finished the regular season, and only 11 were available for the opening semi against Logan Bros. Aided by 2 volunteers from the 14As, who had just finished their semi, the team put in one of their gutsiest performance of the season, to be in the match to close to the end before falling 40-26. A solid win against Souths threw the Panthers into a qualifying semi clash with Redlands, and this provided memories of loast year's major semi, Arana's only points in the 38-4 hammering coming in the last minute. The team performed well the next week to knock out the Dolphins but this was only to set up a rematch with Redlands in the preliminary final. The Panthere played arguably their best half of football for the year in the first half of this match and scored 3 unfortunately unconverted tries to lead 12-0 at the break. One had a feeling this was never going to be enough against the classy Parakeets and so it was, and despite a late flurry Arana's premiership defence was over with a 22-16, 4 try apiece defeat. Matt Handcock was the outstanding player of the season, with an incredible workrate, topping both the tackles and hitups by a substantial margin. The loss of Nash Rylands late in the season proved critical as he had a great year, and new 5/8 Geoff Holcombe really fitted into the side well.
Logan Bros: Started the season well with a narrow win over the defending premiers and looked like the team to beat in the early stages of the season. Their form deteriorated a little mid-season with them struggling to put away some of the lower placed teams and consecutive losses to Souths and Redlands saw them miss the Chairman's Trophy. They disposed of Souths Toowoomba in the quarter final of the Foundation Shield, but the second round game with Redlands doubling as the semi final of that comp saw them fall by 8 points. As the finals approached their form improved culminating in wins over Arana and Redlands twice to see them in their first grand final in "international" football after missing out in 2001 and 2002. Despite having their chances in the Grand Final, poor handling and the inability to "finish" in try scoring situations cost them dearly and they were unable to make it 3-in-a-row against Redlands going down 20-10. Their forwards pved the way for them all season and it is hard to single one out, although Kruize and Albert were great , backed up well by Matt Sepelini and Junior.
Redlands: Hard to say it was anything but a spectacular season for the Parakeets with them winning all four awards on offer (Chairmans Trophy, Foundation Shield, Minor Premiership and Premiership) with probably their only disappointment being they did not go through undefeated! Their bid to go through that way was ended when Souths defeated a side without State representatives Matt, Nathan and Jay, with their only other two defeats of the season being to Logan Bros during the final series. It was an impressive feat by Redlands particularly as they lost speedster Dominic to a season ending injury during the State Championships in May and Brian Paterson with a broken jaw early in the final series. Their come-from-behind wins against Runaway Bay in the final of the Foundation Shield at Suncorp Stadium, and against Arana in the preliminary final were defining moments of their season. Jay Aston was for me their standout player, and indeed the standout player of the competition, and whilst recognising the efforts of all their players, I would be prepared to say his effort in the preliminary final was the only reason Redlands won. Their "big name" players were always solid, but to me a couple of their less recognised players were very impressive, these being Trent Dellitt (ex Slacks Ck) and Geoff Davey, who was particularly strong late in the season.
Conclusion: Congratulations to all the players, coaches, managers, parents and supporters of this competition in 2003. I had a great time getting around to the matches and seeing the quality of the players on offer. Unfortunately in the years from U15s on, the participation rate in Junior League drops off alarmingly - I would encourage all of you to think of the good times you have had this season, and saddle up for another season in 2004!!!!
Brad Tallon
Oct 25 2003
