If you have never attended a local rugby league game in Brisbane, then you are sadly missing out.
The open men’s division two match played on Saturday June 25, proved to be a showstopper of a game, with Brisbane Brothers and Samford Stags playing out a thrilling 16-16 draw at Gibson Park.
In what was a glorious Brisbane afternoon, Samford made a bright start crossing in the corner in the 12th minute of play to post first points of the afternoon.
However, the Leprechauns returned serve through their inspirational captain Andrew Searle, whose superb short pass found a waiting Jarrod Doyle- Andrews, who made no mistake going over beside the sticks.
Gibson Park is always a tough ground to come away with a win and the Leprechauns always put on a show for the supporters and this was evident with their next try.
Dangerous five-eighth Ivan Lynch executed a pinpoint chip kick over the Stags defence to find his skipper Searle who juggled the ball to cross under the sticks.
One may have thought that this was the beginning of a Leprechauns try-fest, however the Stags were ice cool under pressure and pinched another four-pointer courtesy of centre Mason Tong, who crashed in to score.
The amount of work both sides were getting through in defence was immense, with Brothers' Sam Turnbull and Stags' Chris Moriarty shining lights.
It was the Stags' halves pairing that were keeping the Leprechauns on their toes however, with Cooper Hickey and Travis Field outstanding for Samford.
On the stroke of half-time, Brothers fullback Jason Cheer chimed into the backline and raced the length of the field to score what was a fantastic solo try.
The home side went into the break leading 16-10 and this was a chance for the supporters to catch their breath.
Samford then struck first in the second half scoring off a great move from the scrum base, which saw workaholic backrower Sebastian Sinapati rewarded for his efforts with a try out wide.
A superb sideline conversion from the Stags saw the game leveled up at 16-16, with everybody watching in anticipation.
The sin-binning of a Samford player did not deter the visitors from giving up, in fact it lit a spark that had the Leprechaun’s defending four straight sets of six in their own red zone.
Brothers for a moment turned the tables on the visitors with easy metres up the middle through Jason Hedger and with halfback Searle toying with the opposition with his superb kicking game, nearly saw the home side score beside the sticks.
However, the Stags found themselves back in enemy territory and the final pulsating minute had everybody off their seats with Samford given two opportunities to seize the moment but were unable to shut the gate.
A wayward Samford pass however, saw the ball sail into touch that had both sides sharing a point each in what was a truly magnificent game of rugby league.
