The Outback Muster has been held in Longreach, where players from Normanton and Doomadgee in the north to Chinchilla and Miles in the south competed for positions in the Queensland Outback team.
This is considered by many to be the fourth Origin game for the men and third Origin game for the women.
Three men’s teams from Northern Outback, Central West and South West played each other on Saturday, with South West taking out the winner’s trophy and rewarded with 12 spots in the Outback team.
South West's Les Wortley was named player of the match in the opening game and player of the carnival, while Matt York won player of the match in the second game.
York, at just 18 years of age, was outstanding but as coach Lyle Cherry said, "we didn’t have a bad player and everybody played their hearts out".
Credit was also given to South West manager John Chaplain, who has had a pivotal role in the success of the team over the past decade.
Chaplain has been part of the 10-year winning cycle, while the team was also ably supported by Tom Chaplain as the first aider and Cameron Bartley, who missed the game due to injury but still made the trip and helped run the water.
For the women, Northern Outback played Southern Outback and ran out winners to take the trophy for the first time, with Northern's Hannah Clarke being named player of the carnival.
It was so good to see many of our past Origin and Australian players giving back to the Outback game.
We had Matt Scott helping out with the Central West team and Heather Ballinger was running the line until itchy feet got the better of her, making a cameo appearance for the Southern women to help out with some direction on the field.
We also have John Doyle as coach of the Outback men’s team and Nikki Richards coaching the women’s team.
I'm sure the players will benefit and appreciate the expert guidance from such experienced players.
The two Queensland Outback teams will now travel to Miles for a game on July 15 and will not only play against NSW Outback, but will also be visiting schools in the area.
They will also attend a referees Course run by NRL Central region referees coordinator Jarrod Bailey in the hope they can apply their skills in their communities where they are much needed.
Overall it was another great carnival run in the Outback and hosted by the Central West Rugby League and Longreach senior and junior clubs.
2023 Outback Senior Muster - full results
Men’s
South West 40 def Northern 16 (Player of the Match - Les Wortley, South West)
Central West 30 def Northern 22 (Player of the Match - Zeke Thompson, Central West)
South West 22 def Central West 10 (Player of the Match - Matt York, South West)
Women’s
Northern 22 def Southern 6 (Player of the Match - Diaz Seumanutafa, Northern)
Game 2: Northern 20 def Southern 0 (Player of the Match - Hannah Clark, Northern)
Queensland Outback - Men
1. Adam Hughes - Central West
2. Joby Siguaale - South West
3. Jack Papa Junior - South West
4. Les Wortley - South West
5. Zeke Thompson - Central West
6. Ollie Peak - South West
7. Matt York - South West
8. Eoin Bowie - South West
9. Joey Packer - South West
10. Chris Gellar - South West
11. Andrew Hart - South West
12. Rakeem Rainbow - Northern
13. Matt Eising - South West
14. Tasman Coombs - Northern
15. John Wichman - Northern
16. Sheldon Martin - South West
17. Jacob Lankowski - South West
18. Lance Cope - Northern
Shadows: Samuel Munns (Central West), Ereque Kurvitonove (South West), Tyler Dempsey (Northern), Tom McCoy (South West), Keiren Ned (Northern)
Coach: John Doyle
Assistant coach: Luke Brosnan
Sports trainer: Laurie Ferguson
Manager: Chris Waters /Daniel Chillcott
Queensland Outback - Women
1. Hannah Clarke - Northern
2. Gabrielle Holder - Northern
3. Giaan Green - Southern
4. Diaz Seumanutafa - Northern
5. Olivia Cave - Southern
6. Yasmin Crebbin - Northern
7. Chelsea Griffin - Northern
8. Candice Page - Northern
9. Amber Abells - Southern
10. Lucy Lloyd-Morgan - Northern
11. Chantelle George - Northern
12. Danielle Mudu - Southern
13. Shyniah Heness - Northern
14. Holly Callaghan - Southern
15. Mary-Ann Thomson - Northern
16. Selwyn Chong - Northern
17. Nadia Hoad - Southern
18. Chelsea Page - Northern
Shadows: Tailah Page (Southern), Sharradha Rolland (Northern), Olivia Palmer (Southern), Tina Ah-One (Northern)
Coach: Nikki Richards
Assistant coach: Wayne Smith
Manager: Charmain Acton / Louise Waters
Sports trainer: Dwayne Kangan
