Sport
28 August, 2024
Stingers go back-to-back in the Gulf
Normanton had to win two tough finals to claim the premiership on Saturday.
The Normanton Stingers are the champions of the Gulf after two big wins in Saturday’s finals on home turf at John Henry Oval.
However, there will be no women’s premier in 2024 after the final between Moungibi Magawas and the Stingers was called off before half-time due to two head injuries.
Normanton led 12-0 in the grand final over their Burketown rivals, but because the game didn’t reach the halfway mark, the game was determined to be a draw.
Stingers coach Rob Murray said it was the only dampener on what was a big day of rugby league for the Gulf region.
“Those injuries in the women’s game took away some of the atmosphere but it was a great day of footy,” said Murray, who coaches both the Normanton men’s and women’s teams.
“It was a shame our girls didn’t get to finish what they started because I thought they looked strong in that grand final.”
The Stingers had to play earlier in the day to qualify for the grand final, beating Doomadgee 14-4 to advance against the Magawas. Tries to Gabrielle Holder, Sharnae O’Keefe and Kae-leesha Owens paved the way.
“I thought we were bit off our game against Doomadgee,” said Murray.
“We had to work for it and we made a few crucial errors that put us on the back foot.”
The coach said Holder and young gun Sharie Rainbow were his standouts on the day, along with forward Amelia Burke.
In the men’s contests, two semi-finals were staged early in the day with Normanton and Doomadgee advancing to the final.
The Dragons advanced with a 24-8 win over Mornington Island, while the Stingers had to scrap their way to a 18-12 win against Moungibi Danggara.
“It was tough going against the Burketown boys,” Murray said.
“The supporters of both sides were getting into it and when the game was up for grabs they looked really strong.”
The coach said the win came on the back of Kahlem Rapson-Charger scoring a late try.
“He put on a big right-foot step to get past two players and scored under the posts,” Murray said.
“It sent the crowd crazy.
“I thought our slow start might have cost us but (captain) Clay George made some strong carries and the Logan brothers – Elijah and Jeremy – were really good.”
A delayed start to the grand final saw the match begin under lights, much later than the planned 4pm kick-off, and Murray said his team responded well to the challenge of Doomadgee in the decider.
“It was a good game of footy,” he said.
“Some of the contact early was excellent. It was textbook tackling from both sides.”
The coach paid tribute to his forwards, who stepped up after the Stingers lost three players to injury in the semi-final.
“Our forwards had to play big minutes and I thought they lifted us,” he said.
“Doomadgee scored first but we didn’t drop our heads and we were able to hit back through our veteran Donovan George, who inspired the boys with a barge-over try.”
The game was turned on its head when the Dragons had a player sent off after a tackle went awry.
“I knew then we just had to stay in the fight because having an extra player was going to help us later on,” Murray said.
“That was early in the second half and, to Doomadgee’s credit, every time they got the ball in our 40 they looked dangerous.”
The Stingers wrapped up the premiership with a 20-12 win after Valentine Kahn, Trayquan Douglas and Clay George crossed for the home side.
Doomadgee’s try scorers were Brett Diamond and Eli Taylor.
“This was a big win for us; we said at the start of the year we wanted to go back-to-back and show people that the Stingers are back to their best,” Murray said.