Mackay lived up to its reputation as perfect weather, big crowds and hard-hitting, action-packed footy made for a great opening day of this year's QRL State Junior Championships in Mackay.
After Day 1 (Thursday, July 5), last year's joint-winners, SEQ White lead the Under 14 Boys competition, closely followed by the Central Crows, who will be looking to avenge last year's grand final tie with the Water Dragons.
White shot out to 10-0 early in the first game of the day, but the defending co-champions clawed the lead back from their city cousins, scoring 20 unanswered points before conceding a consolation try in the final minute.
As for Central, they never looked like losing in the first half as they cruised to a 12-0 lead but in the second stanza, the Marlins muscled up and held the Crows scoreless, rewarding themselves with a try in the last minute of the game to salvage two points for winning the half.
Tomorrow, Northern host SEQ Green and Central face SEQ White.
In the only Under 14 Girls game today, SEQ dominated, defeating the Marlins 32-4.
They'll face defending champions, the Central Crows in the first game tomorrow morning.
The Crows will also play SEQ later in the day.
SEQ Green put last year's Under 16 Boys grand final loss behind them, defeating cross-town rivals SEQ White 26-16 in their first game of the carnival.
In the other clash, the vociferous local crowd got the Marlins home as Northern held on to defeat the Crows 18-12.
The home side scored all the points in the opening half, leading 10-0 at the break, but an impressive second half charge led by Josh Chappell almost landed the Crows victory.
That was until a late try in the corner to Tyrese Parter with two minutes on the clock all but sealed victory.
Tomorrow, the Marlins hope to continue their winning form against SEQ Green and Central and SEQ White clash with both teams chasing their first victory of the carnival.
SEQ's Under 16 Girls title defence started off shakily, down 18-8 at one stage in their first game against Northern, but an inspirational try under the posts to Mya Brown got the champs back on track, breaking the hearts of the locals to claim three points out of an 18-18 draw.
Coach Tim McIntyre would've been happy with the Water Dragons' second game of the day against Central, claiming a convincing 18-8 win over the Crows.
SEQ will enjoy the day off tomorrow whilst Central face Northern at 2.15pm tomorrow.
STATE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 1 RESULTS
UNDER 14 BOYS
SEQ GREEN 20 (Timothy Sielaff-Burns, Nicholas Hilton, Jake Self tries; Jed Lacey, Blake Ruaporo goals) defeated SEQ WHITE 14 (Kyle Colburn, Jye Gray, Joseph Shannon tries; Kobie Mackey-Taylor goal)
CENTRAL 12 (Bailey Smith, Owen Pattie tries; Trae Bennetto 2 goals) defeated NORTHERN 4 (Sean Bourke try)
UNDER 14 GIRLS
SEQ 32 (Raven Tihema-Mako, Kiarah Siauane, Emma Barnes, Sunny Gerrard, Riley Jorgensen, Angel Kirikava tries; Mackenzie Baty 3, Rilee Jorgensen goals) defeated NORTHERN 4 (Briseis Tamwoy try)
UNDER 16 BOYS
SEQ GREEN 26 (Trezman Banjo, Keegan Vandenberg, Xavier Savage, Matamatagi Ripley, Brodyn Gudgeon tries; Matamatagi Ripley 3 goals) defeated SEQ WHITE 16 (Reece Walsh, Samuel Shannon, Lachlan Adamson tries; Reece Walsh 2 goals)
NORTHERN 18 (Tyrese Parter, Jesse Yallop, Henri Stocks tries; Henri Stocks 3 goals) defeated CENTRAL 12 (Josh Chappell, Jake Gehrmann tries; Josh Chappell 2 goals)
UNDER 16 GIRLS
NORTHERN 18 (Jasmine Peters 2, Jamaica Lampton, Ana Leota tries; Jasmine Peters goal) drew SEQ 18 (Mya Brown 2, Tiana Raftstrand-Smith 2 tries; Angelina Wells goal)
SEQ 18 (Ana Drotini, Courtney Tamati, Indee Brown, Keilee Joseph tries; Angelina Wells goal) defeated CENTRAL 8 (Skye Houliston 2 tries)
LADDERS AFTER DAY 1*
UNDER 14 BOYS
| # | TEAM | W | D | L | +/- | PTS |
| 1 | SEQ Green | 1 | 0 | 0 | +6 | 5 |
| 2 | Central | 1 | 0 | 0 | -8 | 4 |
| 3 | Northern | 0 | 0 | 1 | -8 | 2 |
| 4 | SEQ White | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 1 |
UNDER 14 GIRLS
| # | TEAM | W | D | L | +/- | PTS |
| 1 | SEQ | 1 | 0 | 0 | +28 | 6 |
| 2 | Central | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Northern | 0 | 0 | 1 | -28 | 0 |
UNDER 16 BOYS
| # | TEAM | W | D | L | +/- | PTS |
| 1 | SEQ Green | 1 | 0 | 0 | +10 | 4 |
| 2 | Northern | 1 | 0 | 0 | +6 | 4 |
| 3 | Central | 0 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 2 |
| 4 | SEQ White | 0 | 0 | 1 | -10 | 2 |
UNDER 16 GIRLS
| # | TEAM | W | D | L | +/- | PTS |
| 1 | SEQ | 1 | 1 | 0 | +10 | 9 |
| 2 | Northern | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Central | 0 | 0 | 1 | -10 | 0 |
*6 points are available per game:
2pts for each half won
1pt for each half drawn
0pts for each half lost
2pts for winning the match
DAY 2 DRAW
FRIDAY, JULY 6
| TIME | AGE GROUP | GAME |
| 9am | Under 14 Girls | Central v SEQ |
| 10am | Under 14 Boys | Central v SEQ White |
| 11am | Under 16 Boys | Central v SEQ White |
| 12.15pm | Under 14 Boys | Northern v SEQ Green |
| 1.15pm | Under 14 Girls | Central v Northern |
| 2.15pm | Under 16 Girls | Central v Northern |
| 3.15pm | Under 16 Boys | Northern v SEQ Green |
Preview >> Mackay ready for State Junior Championships
Team Lists >> Team Lists: State Junior Championships
