A good crowd was on hand at the Townsville Stadium to watch the locals take on the world number two ranked team last week in what was a great game.
Everyone who attended they certainly got to witness some very entertaining Wheelchair Rugby League and plenty of skills.
The Queensland Rugby League, especially through the efforts of Education and Wellbeing Manager Rob Hall and Townsville District Rugby League Ross , were well represented on the day.
The QRL Northern Region also presented the North Queensland team with a new set of jerseys through their partnership with Emu Sportswear which they proudly wore on the day and took on the Marlins name like all other Norther Region Representative Rugby League teams.
The day started with the celebrity game with Acting Mayor of Townsville Russ Cook being the highlight of the match.
It was mentioned that the next time Mr Cook plays, he will need to put a sponsor on his back as he spent so much time on the floor facing straight down on the ground, meaning the sponsor would certainly get value for money.
QRL Northern Region Manager Scott Nosworthy also took part in the game, but his exploits certainly didn’t match up to many of the other players who participated in it.
Once the celebrity game was out of the way it was time for the big match.
North Queensland team was coached by Darren McKenna and captained by Davin “Bear” Bretherton, and they took to the field to the cheers of the crowd.
The anthems of both teams were sung and the game started.
England flew out of the blocks and raced to an early lead before the Marlins dug deep and took it to their more highly fancied opponents.
This trend continued throughout the game and finally the Northern team were rewarded for their efforts when Gary “bust you up” Best crossed the line for the first try for the locals.
The cheerleaders, the crowd and Best himself went wild and he continued his good form through the game with two more tries, but the English team were too strong on the day winning 62-12.
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The player of the match for NQ was Best, but he was supported through some outstanding efforts from his team mates captain Bretherton, Zac Schumacher, Bailey McKenna and Adam Tannock.
England’s player of the match was Nathan Collins with two tries and six conversions.
Nosworthy was inspired by what he witnessed on the day.
“The comradery and sportsmanship displayed in the main game was terrific and showcased that the game of rugby league needs to do more to support these amazing athletes and volunteers who made this game and others like it a reality,” Nosworthy said.
Nosworthy made special mention of the North Queensland coach McKenna, Donna James from Sporting Wheelies and Disability Association and Marty Meredith from the NRL for getting the game to North Queensland.
