Mini Maroons: The ultimate team players
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Mini Maroons is the weekly round-up of the amazing things kids are doing in community rugby league.
This week we are celebrating strong Ipswich bonds, an energiser bunny from Mackay, and a comeback to rugby league for one promising talent in the Central Highlands.
QRL South East
The kids of Ipswich are discovering the game of rugby league in the best way possible – all together.
In what was just week two of the junior season, players from three clubs and two different age groups combined forces in a bid to make sure no one missed out on a game.
Due to a miscommunication in the draw, the Karalee Tornadoes under 6s team turned up at the Lowood Stags fields on Saturday March 26 without an opponent to play against.
Redbank Plains RLFC vice-president Nathan Booth was going to just split them into two teams to play against each other when he saw the West End RLFC Under 7s and his own club’s Red Under 7s only had five players turn up between the two teams.
“I proposed to just combine them together so they could play one big game,” Booth said.
“That’s how it came about. I divided up the Karalee kids and some turned their jerseys inside out. It didn’t worry the kids at all and the parents were great. They had no issues.”
Booth – who was there on the day to help out Lowood in the first aid tent – said it was the best thing for the kids and for the game.
“I believe club loyalties aside, we’re all here for the game,” Booth said.
“We’re here for the betterment of the game. I’ve always been passionate about the game.”
Lowood secretary Lauren Marschke said the kids were extremely keen to play and they embraced their temporary teams with gusto.
“We helped them organise it,” Marschke said.
“We all worked together … that’s what football’s all about. It’s about every kid getting a game and having fun.
“Under 6s and under 7s play the same rules, so it was nothing different for them. They all got to have a game. They were all very happy that they could just play.”
QRL North
Baxter Browne just cannot stop playing footy.
The Mackay Brothers Bulldogs Under 11s gun has become renowned around his club for his team spirit and endless amounts of energy.
Baxter often played at least two games a weekend last year, and exhibited this same keenness on March 19, when he played for nearly three teams in the Peter Keogh Memorial Shield.
He showed up for two sides and was on the bench for another, but they did not end up needing his services.
Mackay Brothers president Andrew Battaia said Baxter had become a real character around the club, but a player that every coach knew they could rely on.
“He loves his footy,” Battaia said.
“We’ve got multiple teams in his age group and he helps all three sides out every week if he can.
“He’ll finish one game and then he’s over annoying the coach of the other team, seeing if they need a hand. He’s a special player and he deserves the recognition."
Baxter's mother, Terri Sharpe – who is one of the club’s best supporters, according to Battaia – said the 11-year-old had always had a great love of sport and there was not much that could stop him once he got going.
“It doesn’t matter what time it is or how much breathing space he’s had in between games, he’s always looking to play,” Sharpe said.
“He has ridiculous amounts of energy.
“He was riding a bike with no training wheels at two. You put him on a skateboard and he could just ride it.
"He’s an avid sports fan and he loves everything about football. He watches the games on the weekend and then sits in the car and replays everything to me – names, teams, positions, all of it. He lives and breathes it.”
QRL Central
It’s been a long time in between rugby league matches for Evan Sullivan.
The young Emerald Tigers talent had to step away from the game two years ago as COVID hit the country and then her time of being able to play in mixed competitions came to an end.
But now, with the introduction of an under 15 girls competition in the Central Highlands region, Sullivan is back on the field and making up for lost time.
The 13-year-old picked up players’ player and player of the match in her side’s clash with Blackwater Crushettes on Saturday, March 26.
She took on both halfback and hooker and was praised for making a number of “crucial tackles”.
Her father, Warren Sullivan, was not able to attend the game due to work, but said he knew it must have been a cracker after he heard the feedback from his eldest son, Marshall.
“Her older brother said she played really well, which is pretty big accolades coming from him,” Sullivan said.
“He’s a pretty hard marker.
“She’s been playing since under 6s and then COVID stuffed everything up and she couldn’t play with the boys anymore once she turned 13. She started playing rugby union instead but now the Tigers have this competition going with Blackwater.
“It’s small but you have to start somewhere and she was pretty excited to get back to rugby league.”
The competition was introduced in the Central Highlands this year to bridge the gap from under 12s to the women.
It only involves two teams at this stage, but there are hopes for a bigger future and Sullivan said it’s the starting point the region needs.
