The Rugby League Mackay and District Cutters have been crowned this year's Foley Shield champions, securing back-to-back titles after an impressive performance in Townsville at the weekend.
In order to claim the silverware, they secured a gritty 16-10 win over the home side on Friday, before completing the job with a clinical 46-18 display against Cairns on Saturday afternoon.
Former Queensland Maroons great and RLMD coach Steve Jackson said the journey was filled with challenges.
“A lot of people won’t really understand the week we’ve been through,” FOG #67 said.
“We had a few withdrawals at the start of the week, and we brought in players that just wanted to play for Mackay.”
'They defended their hearts out' - Jackson
The Mackay legend admired the grit and determination of his players during the experience.
“I said to the boys... your parents will be pretty proud of you men today because they just stood up,” Jackson said.
“I told the players to get that player beside you and impress the hell out of him because at the end of the day, you stand side by side and that’s what they did, [stood] side by side, defended their hearts out and we came away with two great wins.
“We won it back in 2019 and we backed it up this year and it’s a great time to be a leader and coach of this football side.”
Qualifying for the next phase of the new XXXX A Grade League Championship, Jackson is excited about the next step of the journey for his side.
“I think it is an unbelievable concept that the QRL have turned the Foley Shield into. It is the grassroots of rugby league," Jackson said.
"We miss out with all the high flyers and there’s a lot of concentration on the NRL, but players come from this level and players at this level need to be excited.
“Now we play the winner of Central Queensland, and the winner of that goes on to play the winner of South East Queensland for a state title and think it’s an amazing concept.”
With Toowoomba clinching a narrow 20-16 victory over Sunshine Coast in the 47th Battalion decider, the Cutters will line up against the Clydesdales at home on Saturday, June 19.
The winners of that contest will then go through to the grand final where they will face off against Brisbane Blue in late July for a chance to be crowned the XXXX A Grade state champions.
In the other match played in the Foley Shield contest, Townsville bounced back from their Friday night loss to finish the weekend with a 48-4 win over Cairns.
