The Kingfishers Seniors teams came out fighting in their first games of the season.
Both the Men’s and Women’s teams displayed great skill and determination against the opposing teams.
Men Dominate in Grading Match
The Beaudesert Kingfishers defeated the Eagleby Giants on Saturday 48-2 in what was a dominant display from the get-go.
The first half was all one-way traffic with the Kingfisher forward pack laying the platform for their backs to score tries across the park.
Heading into half time, Beaudesert were up 28-2 and coach Charlie Gee said the addition of some older players really helped lift the team from the first whistle.
“We brought in some experienced players this season with Foe Locke and Exavier Evile, so that really helps the rest of the younger boys in the team,” he said.
“The halves are only new, but they’ve gelled extremely well and with everyone else doing their job, it makes for easy coaching.”
The second half was no different for the Kingfishers putting on a further 20 points fairly easily, with the Eagleby defence not able to compete with the silky plays from Beaudesert.
The game finished up at 48-2 which Charlie says is a positive for them heading into the season as they will be graded to a higher division for this season.
“It’s nice to win, but you don’t want to be winning like that week to week, however, we’re a new team and I think the main thing is just realising their potential and seeing how far that goes,” he said.
“Then depending on our results this season, we will work ourselves up to a higher division.”
Beaudesert have performed extremely well across their last two grading games and with one more to go, the expectations are high for the upcoming season.
“The belief in the group is really starting to show, and the boys know they’re only trials. There’s a whole other job to do in regard to the full season,” he said.
Photo: Queensland Sports Photography.
Women Dig Deep for Grading Win
The Kingfisher Women defeated the Swifts Bluebirds 16 – 8 in a tight and hard-fought game.
There wasn’t much to split the two teams heading into half time with a 4-all score board heading into the break with Kingfishers only try coming from Nikki Gaunt.
Women’s Coach, Keith Gee, said that the performance in the first half was a bit disjointed which led to many missed opportunities.
“I was happy with their effort in the first half, but we needed to improve our completions which meant to hold the ball and not force passes”, he said.
The second half couldn’t have started any better for the Kingfishers, with a try off the kick-off from fullback Desree Fogarty in which she ran 90 metres to score under the posts.
“I thought Desree was our best player on the paddock today. She was everywhere on the field and just put in a terrific effort”, Keith said.
The game was played through the middle with the forwards from both teams having a tremendous battle. However, the Swifts defensive line couldn’t hold onto a barnstorming Marie Blow, who busted through the line and ran 60 metres to score under the post.
The final score was 16-8 to the Kingfishers and Keith said there was a lot of improvement left in them.
“We started to complete well in the back end of the second half and started to play the style of footy that we’ve been training for all pre-season”, he said.
With one more grading match to go, a curtain raiser for the NRLW Grand Final at Redcliffe, Keith believes the arena they will be playing in will be a fantastic experience for them.
“The nerves and excitement are kicking in already for the team, but I know they will put their best foot forward, as will the other team, playing at such a great ground like Moreton Daily Stadium,” he said.
“I’m fairly certain we will be graded into Division Three as our games have all been extremely close, so I am just excited to start the season and get some more games under their belt.”
