'Out of that watery grave': Central clubs all in for revival
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It's the year for reviving the glory days and four such clubs in the Central region are eyeing big things in 2023.
Eidsvold Eagles
A nine-hour round trip awaits Liam Law every weekend this season, but it’s a small sacrifice for putting Eidsvold back on the rugby league map.
The Eagles have re-joined the Central Burnett competition, which starts on April 1, after about five years away thanks to a dedicated crew keen to rekindle the glory days.
Law grew up in Eidsvold and now sitting on the wrong side of 30, felt it was his duty to do something about it, with wife Brooke bringing her expertise as treasurer and Garland Tucker as secretary.
“It started from me and Garland talking, we made a group and asked my wife to get involved and we did everything. We started from the ground zero, had no training gear or anything,” Law said.
“The main reason I did it is I want to help out my hometown, and rugby league is the heartbeat of it.
“When I was a little boy, I remember we had heaps of good players and used to win comps all the time.
“The person who used to organise it, Mary Nelson, she got sick and it kind of went downhill from there. She was president for years and kept the club afloat with her own money.”
Law took on recruitment and found plenty of his former Eidsvold locals eager to travel to play their part in the revival. He’s one of 29 in the 40-man squad who live out of town – and he hopes the club rising again can inspire talents of the ilk of Redcliffe Dolphins fullback Trai Fuller to reach for big things.
“We’ve got an old squad basically and the blokes in Eidsvold are all young, so I wanted to bring the old guys back who played in the same competition to give them their experience on how to play,” Law said.
“Lucky I’ve got my wife – she’s pretty smart – and our main goal is the long term.
“This year we’ll start the A grade side and next year we want to have juniors so we can start a pathway to bigger and better things.”
The Central Burnett Rugby League starts on April 1.
Peak Downs Pirates
They’ve been out of the competition a decade but Peak Downs Pirates president Justin Madden is bullish about the club’s chances of immediate success.
The Pirates take on Blackwater Crushers at home in Tieri in their return on Sunday after being admitted in January, leading to players “squealing like schoolgirls” following a two-and-a-half year campaign.
“I’m confident we’ll have the minor premiership plate in Tieri this year,” Madden said.
“We want the grand final, it’s our town’s 40th anniversary this year as well, so we’ve got a lot on the line we’re trying to push for, big goals, a big vision and we’ve finally got out of that watery grave we’ve been in for the last 10 years and we’re going to sail the ship home for that grand final. Nothing is stopping us.”
Being made up largely of underground coal miners, they’re “pretty much family” according to Madden and it’s breeding a strong culture where everyone wants to chip in.
“The boys have their own little meetings when they’re underground talking about what they need to do for the team, the club, what to do to help the juniors this week and the positive vibe, it’s just a surreal feeling with sponsors and other companies that have helped out and chipped in to and everyone’s doing every little bit to make sure we’re going to be as successful as we possibly can,” Madden said.
“All the boys are pretty giddy at the moment, pretty nervous, pretty excited, we got a pretty talented side on paper and we’re showing it in our skills at training.”
But the most important thing will be being able to be the role models the seniors were when Madden was a junior, and making sure they have the same pathway from juniors through to seniors.
Isis Devils
It's being viewed as "one more chance" for Isis Devils in a return to A grade rugby league in 2023.
The club last played seniors in the Bundaberg competition in 2018 but will this time make a return in Northern Districts to dip their toe back into the water.
They now have so many players, including backpackers from Samoa and Papua New Guinea based in Childers, they could have formed a reserve grade team.
"The interest was there from a few local players and those from around rural areas of Gayndah and Biggenden and the option was to go into Northern Districts and we've had really good interest. We've had some local Isis and Childers juniors come back and some players from other clubs who said they were retiring but have decided to come back," president Rhonda Campbell said.
"The plan is to go into Northern Districts and have a really good season and then throughout the year come up with a long-term plan to go to BRL with for next year.
"The community response has been absolutely overwhelming about having them back."
Campbell said the club was looking to strengthen its affiliation with Childers to help build a bridge Under 13 through to senior football.
Isis kicks off its season against South Kolan on Sunday.
McIntyre Warriors
A once dominant force of the NSW Group 19 competition has jumped the border after a few years on the sideline with a view to driving positive change in the community.
Their coach, a former youth worker in Lachlan Dennison, knows all too well how much young people in the area love footy and hopes providing the structure of organised sport in Boggabilla, just over the border from Goondiwindi, can help guide them on the right path.
“We have a few young fellas and a few older fellas and it’s just about getting them back into footy and training has been all right, there’s just a few things they’re struggling with but this comp will be perfect for us to get us back into that structure,” Dennison said.
“There’s a few boys who haven’t played for nearly 10 years and you can see they know footy, it’s just getting the touch and feel for it again.”
Many of those former premiership winners have also been putting themselves to work revamping the clubhouse, getting everything in ship shape ahead of their first trials with their Borders Rugby League rivals from April 1.
