Innisfail Leprechauns have finished second on the ladder after a 40-16 win over Yarrabah in the final round of regular season at Callendar Park on Saturday.
Both teams wore special Indigenous themed playing kit and contested the Deadly Choices Invitational match, which will be an annual event.
Innisfail claimed the brand new specially designed shield and will have their name engraved as winners in its inaugural year.
The win saw Innisfail leapfrog Yarrabah to second and set up a tantalising rematch this Sunday.
Mossman-Port Douglas finished the season as A Grade Minor premiers after defeating Ivanhoes at Smithfield on Friday night.
In the Under 18 division, Ivanhoes have finished the season as minor premiers, while in reserve grade, Yarrabah claimed those honours after a 34-26 win over Innisfail.
Police Liaison officer Michael Sands, Gary Ambrum and Denzel Philpot from Deadly Choices were special guests at the main game and presented Innisfail players with their Deadly Choices jerseys in the dressing sheds.
Sands and Ambrum are highly respected members of the rugby league community who were both accomplished players in past eras.
Innisfail came out firing and opened the scoring with a four pointer to Den Waireg-Ingui.
The Seahawks struck back soon after when Gundle Costello crossed for their first try.
Unfortunately for Yarrabah, a player was sin binned with just over 18 minutes left in the half.
Innisfail capitalised on Yarrabah having a man down and posted more points with tries to Luke Horsford, Dan Sagigi and a second to Waireg-Ingui.
The game was again marred when a player from each team were given their marching orders to the sin bin 10 minutes before the break.
Yarrabah weren't able to penetrate Innisfail's defence and went into the sheds at halftime with a 20 point deficit.
Innisfail continued their points fest with a try to Usaia Fonongaloa which blew their lead out to 28-4.
In true fighting spirit, Yarrabah broke through Innisfail's defence with a try to Charles Murgha with the extras added by Costello.
More points followed for the home side when Elia Mooka chipped in with a try and their lead extended to 34-10.
A consolation try to Arnell Harris and successful conversion by Costello saw Yarrabah trail by 18.
A late try to Innisfail by Fred Koraba and extras added by Michael Morton all but sealed victory for Innisfail.
After the game, Yarrabah coach Eddie Prior gave full credit to his players who he said hung in and finished the game off so he couldn't take anything away from them for effort.
The coach said hooker Arnell Harris did a lot of work in defence, while second rower Rodrick Duncan and Jack Webster also really stood out for him.
Innisfail came out firing and Prior knew the game would be physical, but wasn't expecting serious injuries.
Fenton Murgha has a sustained a torn quadricep and Gundle Costello a torn hamstring.
He conceded this upcoming weekend will be a totally different ball game as Yarrabah now have a second crack at them and would put up a good fight.
Prior said they were hoping to have Hezron Murgha and Jayden Kynuna back in the side for this week's qualifying final.
The coach said his side would have to put this loss behind them and move on, as the team needed to get back on track with the right attitude and lift their game to face Innisfail again.
"There are a few little things (we will) be focusing on this week at training to get their fine tuning right so they know exactly where they are at, Prior said.
Innisfail coach Leon Hallie said it was great effort from his team.
"We talked about defending at Callendar Park for the final game in the regular season as having only dropped one game at home," Hallie said.
He said he was happy achieving both goals of getting a win in the last home game and being able to get the job done with whoever we put on the field, but said a whole new competition would start this weekend so the side needed to move on quickly from the win.
While he won’t know the team's line up until later in the week, Hallie said he was pleased there were no serious injuries to his players.
Round 20 Results
A Grade
Mossman-Port Douglas 40 defeated Ivanhoes 22
Innisfail 40 defeated Yarrabah 16
Mareeba 18 defeated Edmonton 16
Atherton 40 defeated Tully 6
Cairns Brothers 36 defeated Kangaroos 28
Bye - Southern Suburbs
Ladder: Mossman-Port Douglas 28, Innisfail 27, Yarrabah 26, Cairns Brothers 24, Atherton 22, Southern Suburbs 18, Kangaroos 15, Mareeba 14, Ivanhoes 13, Edmonton 10, Tully 1
Reserve Grade
Mossman-Port Douglas won on forfeit Ivanhoes
Yarrabah 34 defeated Innisfail 26
Mareeba 32 defeated Edmonton 26
Atherton 32 defeated Tully 20
Kangaroos 32 drew with Cairns Brothers 32
Ladder: Yarrabah 26, Atherton 23, Mossman-Port Douglas 22, Southern Suburbs 22, Cairns Brothers 21, Mareeba 20, Innisfail 19, Tully 16, Kangaroos 14, Edmonton 12, Ivanhoes 3
Under 18
Ivanhoes won on forfeit by Mossman-Port Douglas
Yarrabah 38 defeated Innisfail 28
Edmonton won on forfeit by Mareeba
Atherton won on forfeit by Tully
Cairns Brothers won on forfeit by Kangaroos
Ladder: Ivanhoes 35, Edmonton 30, Cairns Brothers 26, Innisfail 25, Atherton 22, Yarrabah 20, Kangaroos 16, Southern Suburbs 12, Mareeba 10, Tully 1, Mossman-Port Douglas 1
Week 1 - Finals - Sunday, September 1 - Barlow Park Cairns
Under 18
10.00am - Innisfail vs Atherton (elimination)
11.30am – Edmonton vs Cairns Brothers
Reserve Grade
1.00pm – Suburbs vs Brothers (elimination)
2.30pm – Atherton vs Mossman
A Grade
4.00pm – Cairns Brothers vs Atherton (elimination)
5.30pm – Innisfail vs Yarrabah
Main image: Innisfail defeated Yarrabah in the Deadly Choices Invitational match to claim the shield in its inaugural year. Photo: Maria Girgenti
