A never say die attitude led Badu island side Urapun Thayak to a hard fought 20-16 win over Darkies Connection in the grand final of the Arthur Beetson Foundation Queensland Murri Carnival on Sunday.
Urapun Thayak was referred to as “The Pride of the Torres Strait” after winning a carnival, which is much sought after and a blue-ribbon rugby league event.
A total of 23 men’s and eight women’s teams competed in the Open divisions at Queensland’s biggest indigenous carnival held at north Brisbane’s South Pine Sports Complex from Friday to Sunday.
There were huge crowds at the ground and tens of thousands of others watched it on live stream including many from the Torres Strait, NPA, Cape York and Palm Island.
Down 16-nil at halftime in the decider, Urapun Thayak - which means 'one arrow' - fought hard after the break to triumph.
Team co-captains in former NRL stars Ben Barba and Travis Waddell and legendary Waiben (Thursday Island) based co-coaches Terry Abednego and Robert Yorkston, were emotional soon after the win.
“This is more than a carnival for us and we represent the communities back home. We received a lot of support from families in the Torres Strait,” Abednego said.
Winger Queille Murray was named player of the final and scored two tries.
Champion five-eighth Ben Barba, a former NRL Dally M medal winner, also scored a four-pointer in the final, and was named player of the carnival.
“This is pretty special to be part of this team. I first played for a Badu side 18 years ago and we were down at halftime but never gave up. People travelled in dinghies, cars and planes from the Torres Strait to get here. I am proud to be part of the team,” Barba said.
To qualify for the decider, Urapun Thayak beat star-studded defending champions Purga Wagtails 14-12 in the semi-final.
After the semi-final win star player Brenko Lee said that even though he had played NRL, lining up for community was so important. Lee and Waddell stood out in the semi-final.
It came after a thrilling 18-14 golden point win over Dirringhi Thaddeus Johnson Memorial in the quarter finals.
"It means so much to me and our families and friends back on Badu,” Brenko said.
After the qualifying rounds Urapun Thayak finished seventh and the Barracudas eighth.
The day after the wonderful win, Abednego reflected on the success.
“It was a long carnival for us where we started with 21 players and played the last day with just 18. Some of the standouts for us were carnival regulars Jardine Bobongie, Travis Waddell, Ben Barba, Brenko Lee and the ever-reliable Remus Phineasa,” Abednego said.
In the women’s grand final, Mungindi Panthers beat SEQ Magic 20-14 - after leading 14-nil at halftime - to claim back-to-back titles. The Panthers beat Brisbane Natives in the semi-finals.
Urapan Thanak and Mungindi Panthers are expected to go on to play the respective winners of the New South Wales equivalent - the Koori Knockout - early next year in the Murri v Koori Interstate Challenge.
The Deadly Choices Junior Murri Carnival, which featured players from under 6 to under 12 age groups, wraps up on Tuesday before around 70 boys' and girls' teams play off across under 14s to under 18s from Wednesday to Saturday.
