'He was a team man': Atherton to honour young Andrew Beazley with memorial trophy

Andrew Beazley was a team player.

A centre or second rower at heart, the Atherton Roosters talent didn’t really care what position he took every time he ran onto the field – he just wanted to play for his mates and his team.

And now his team will play for him.

Fourteen-year-old Andrew tragically passed away in a motorbike crash in January, shattering the tight-knit community in north Queensland.

But on Saturday, March 12, he will be remembered by his family, teammates, coaches and the community when the under 16s teams from Atherton Roosters and Cairns Brothers meet in the inaugural Andrew Beazley Memorial Trophy.

Usually just a standard pre-season trial between the two clubs, Atherton president Brendan Clark and Cairns vice-president Sonny Samuels decided to take the match to another level in honour of Andrew.

Clark – who was set to coach Andrew in the under 16s this year – was very close with the teen and said the loss had deeply affected the Atherton Roosters club.

“He was like my third son,” Clark said.

“Him and my young bloke Jackson were best mates at school. Andrew spent most weekends during the footy season at our house.

“His mum Linda is a nurse and she had to work a lot of weekends so every Sunday morning he would wake up on my sofa bed.

“I coach the under 16s, which Andrew would have been a part of. It’s definitely rocked the boys. They were a little bit flat and disinterested to start the year.

“This group of kids have been together for five years.”

Andrew’s teammates will take on Cairns in the main match of the day, with the event to also include modified games for under 10s, 12s and 14s, as well as relays, lawn bowls and other challenges.

The Memorial Trophy game will kick off at 1.15pm, with one-minute’s silence preceding it.

Clark said he wanted the fun-filled, footy-oriented day to encapsulate everything Andrew was about.

“He was very much a nice kid,” Clark said.

“He was a team man. He’d play anywhere. He wasn’t the most gifted kid early on but he was a late bloomer.

“In the next couple of years, we would have started to see the best of him. But he just enjoyed playing football with his mates. He loved being around everyone. He was a loveable kid.

“This day is just a way to remember what Andrew was like and bring the two clubs together. I think it’s a way that we can start something between the two clubs that is more than just a trial game.”

Andrew Beazley Memorial Trophy

When

Saturday, March 12, from 9.30am

Where

Atherton Roosters Junior Rugby League Football Club

What

10.30am: Under 10s, 12s and 14s modified games

11.50am: Team challenges

12.30pm: Sausage sizzle

1.15pm: Under 16s Andrew Beazley Memorial Trophy match

2.30pm: Presentations

Main image: Andrew Beazley, pictured in the QLD Maroons jumper, with his Atherton Roosters teammates in under 14s. Photo: Atherton Roosters JRL Facebook.