Six boy teams and five girls teams took to Victoria Park, Rockhampton over the Easter school holidays for the eighth-annual Rockhampton Charity Shield.
With a new supporting partner in the Darumbal Community Youth Service, Sport and Recreation Officer and former South Sydney Rabbitoh Jamie Simpson delivered welfare talks to more than 200 players and coaching staff.
New charity partner Give Me 5 For Kids also benefited, with raffles and spots in the All Stars touch game raising over $400 for the cause.
Play kicked off on Friday, April 12 with sides from Norths Mackay, Sarina, Biloela, Yeppoon, Cap Coast and Gladstone competing in the boys division, whilst Rocky Tigers, Emu Park, Norths Rocky, Gladstone and Yeppoon faced off in girls competition.
There were 22 games during the first day with an incredible 149 tries scored in both divisions.
At the end of Day 1, the girls teams were ranked one to five, with Gladstone Wallabys going through to the Division 1 final the next day after winning all their pool matches.
In the boys, Norths Mackay were also undefeated after four games.
On the second day (Saturday, April 13), the girls had two semi finals to see who would go through to the two Divisional Finals.
Rocky Tigers were given a trip through to the Division 2 final when Yeppoon were unable to get a team together after a number of injuries, and met Norths after they lost to Emu Park.
The playoff between the Tigers and Knights did not disappoint with the game going into golden point after 30 minutes of play.
After a number of sets by each team, it was the Rocky Tigers scoring to take out the Division 2 title.
The Division 1 final was also an entertaining affair.
Emu Park jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and were worrying the Wallabys’ defence, but it was Gladstone who scored next to level it up at 6-6 after 15 minutes.
The second half was built on defence and it looked like another game was going into golden point until the Emus used their outside back speed and scored two late tries to claim the Division 1 honours 16-6.
The boys all had one round game left on Day 2 to determine the ladder and decide who would contest the Division 1 Shield Final.
At the completion of the pool matches, Norths Mackay were still undefeated and qualified for a shot at the trophy against the second-placed Cap Coast in the last game of the day.
The Division 3 final was between Gladstone Wallabys and Biloela.
The Panthers tried really hard all carnival, but couldn't secure a win with Wallaby's running out winners 32-8.
Despite the big result, both sides agreed they really enjoyed the experience and will be encouraging their clubs to return next year for their chance.
The playoff between position three and four was between Yeppoon and Sarina.
Both sides were also playing some very good footy and the decider was certainly an entertaining affair.
In the end, the young Seagulls proved a little too good for the Crocodiles winning 30-16.
The main final was always going to be an interesting affair.
Cap Coast were down on troops due to a couple of injuries sustained at the carnival, but the Devils were starting to feel the heat of Rockhampton and were a little flat in their earlier game.
Norths Mackay started the stronger team and ran in a couple of tries, however Cap Coast held strong until halftime and were still in the game.
After the break, the Devils hit the 20-point mark and looked certain to win, but in true Cap Coast Brothers style, they fought back and with a minute to go, scored to get within four points.
Unfortunately, time ran out for the Brethren from the Coast and Mackay were crowned this year’s Tackle6 Charity Shield champions, 20-16.
Amazingly, in the 31 games played, the teams scored 205 four-pointers, showcasing the outstanding flare the sides had during the carnival.
There was one other game that had everyone talking on the Friday night of the carnival.
The Charity Shield Touch Footy match returned between the Triple M B Team All Stars and Rocky Sports Club Young Guns.
The All Stars, captained by Simpson, included ex-NRL stars Rhys Wesser, Justin Loomans and Scott Minto, CQ Capras forward Aaron Flanagan, Southern Cross Austereo journalist Aroha Liebhart and locals Christian Hermann, Brett Hallam, Riley Fagg and Bradley Reece.
In the absence of Gavin Shuker, Young Guns captain Jack Hughes only got the call up that afternoon was able to put together a young and talented side including Queensland Touch representatives Zayne Cox (Under 15s), Braydon Huggers (Under 15s) Bob Cox (Over 40s), Tahlia Shuker (Under 13s), Sophie Smith (Under 13s) and Kahlia Bob (Under 13s).
No one really knew what the end score was, but the sideline interviews with everyone kept the crowd laughing with some great stories and banter shared between team mates about what they could and couldn't do the footy field.
As always, carnivals like this can't happen without great sponsors and the RDJRL would like to thank Rocky Sports Club, Leisure Pools Rockhampton and Gladstone, Intersport, Darumbal Community Youth Service and Triple M for their support in this year’s event.
