One of the country’s biggest junior rugby league carnivals is set to yet again take over the Brothers rugby league grounds and 1300SMILES Stadium for the 20th staging of the annual Laurie Spina Shield at Townsville.
Proudly supported by the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys and Fantastic Furniture, the two-day Under-11 carnival from Sunday, June 26, will for the fifth straight year feature a capacity 64 teams representing much of Queensland as well as interstate entries.
‘The Cowboys are unique in that their footprint is geographically the largest of any club in the NRL’
Six Townsville clubs will be represented, but the bulk of the competing teams will travel for the carnival, the climax being Monday’s Grand Final, played as the main curtain-raiser to the Round 16 National Rugby League match between the Cowboys and the visiting Manly Sea Eagles at 1300SMILES Stadium.
“We’ve got teams coming from many areas in regional Queensland, plus a team from the southeast corner and even two interstate entries,” said Cowboys game development manager Liam Bartlett.
“The Cowboys are unique in that their footprint is geographically the largest of any club in the NRL, and this carnival reflects and continues that culture of communities coming together.”
From all the lands they come
Aside from attracting teams from North Queensland – including the Burdekin, Hinchinbrook, Charters Towers, Mackay and Cairns regions, plus west out to Mount Isa – the carnival will also welcome teams from central Queensland, an entry from Weipa and a new entry from South Australia.
“We are welcoming back the Northern Territory Titans, while for the first time, the NRL South Australia Adelaide Rams will bring a team all the way to Townsville, which we’re thrilled to have happen,” Bartlett said.
“This carnival is the biggest event we run and we’re genuinely excited that it continues to grow in terms of reach and attracting new teams.”
Action-packed format
The 64 teams will be divided into eight pools of eight teams, and each side will play six pool matches before crossover finals matches, culminating in the Grand Final on Monday, June 27, at 5.40pm.
The Townsville-based Western Lions – whose team the Pride won the 2015 Shield – will again enter a team, the Roar, while other Townsville clubs competing include Brothers, Centrals, Upper Ross, United Suburbs and Norths Thuringowa.
Named after Ingham product and inaugural Cowboys player Laurie Spina, the shield is one of the largest single-age rugby league carnivals in the country, with almost 1000 boys and girls competing.
Whose feet are fastest?
Another favourite of the weekend will be the Fastest Feet Relay, where eight players from each team compete in a relay race across the 1300SMILES Stadium field at halftime of the Cowboys-Sea Eagles match.
“It’s a wonderful spectacle to see more than 500 kids completely swam the field; the colours of all the club jerseys is just outstanding,” Bartlett said.
The competing children will also have a chance to say g’day to their Cowboys heroes with a signing session at club HQ after the team’s final training hitout on the Sunday.
WHAT: 2016 Laurie Spina Shield
WHEN: Sunday, June 26, and Monday, June 27, 2016
WHERE: Brothers rugby league grounds and 1300SMILES Stadium (Grand Final), Golf Links Drive, Kirwan.
