COMMONWEALTH
BANK
STATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
OPENS TOWNSVILLE
21-24 MAY 1998
Warm sunny
days and balmy nights greeted the more than 250 players and
officials who descended on Townsville for the 1998 Open
Championships. For the first time twelve regions were contesting
the championships, newcomer Metro North drawing its players from
former Metro East, Metro West and Sunshine Coast schools.
Under
canny coach and carnival convenor Tony Tarnawski, host region
Northern was defending the title it claimed from Metro East Navy
in 1997. However Northern was denied back to back titles when
beaten by Peninsula in a thrilling semi final at Malanda Stadium
on the Saturday night, in a curtain raiser to the
Cowboys-Parramatta game.
Peninsula
went on to claim the title, beating Metro North in a nailbiting
final the next day. (In an ironic reversal of fortunes, Peninsula
lost its 15-Year crown to Northern a week later at Kingaroy.)
Perennial
battlers South West went home happy, after turning in their best
ever Opens result. For the first time they finished outside the
bottom four.
DAY 1 THURSDAY
Preliminary
Round
Peninsula 32 (B
Richards 2, S Kidner, B Carr, J Hodges tries; C Sheppard 2, L
Pensini, J Hodges goals) def Wide Bay 4 (J Gibson try). Half
time: 12-4. Players of match: Blaine Richards, Peninsula; Dustin
Cooper, Wide Bay.
South West
24 (A Crosland 2, L Gaulton, C Thurston, B Geiger tries; A
Crosland 2 goals) def Metro East 18 (D McIlwain, R McGoldrick, S
Cummings tries; S Geissler 2, D McIlwain goals). Half time: South
West 18-6. Players of match: Craig Thurston, South West; Ryan
McGoldrick, Metro East.
South
Coast 46 (D Kennedy 2, J Vaughan, J Lolesi, B McConnell, M Hema,
J Prowse,
Z West tries; J van Dijk 5, D Kennedy 2 goals) d Capricornia 4 (G
Duffy try). Half time: South Coast 24-4. Players of match: Jace
van Dijk, South Coast; Peter Reddy, Capricornia.
Sunshine
Coast 24 (J Faivulu 2, A Gardner, T Clayton, J Burley tries; D
McEniery,
M Anderson
goals) def Metro West 18 (T Ropati, P Cook, D Pati, J O'Doherty
tries; O'Doherty goal). Half- time: Sunshine Coast 10-8. Players
of match: Ben Cook, Sun. Coast; Michael Ryan, Metro West.
Metro
North 34 (D Hegarty 2, A Johnston, B Costello, T Ahben, M
Bassett, P Daley tries; P Daley 3 goals) def Darling Downs 8 (W
Bachmann, T Ribot de Bresac tries). Half time: Metro North 16-8.
Players of match: Andrew Johnston, Metro North; Nathan Murphy,
Darling Downs.
Northern
86 (P Wapau 3, M Bowen 3, C Muckert 2, C Nehow, B McGrath, R
Prior, Z Kyle, P Wake, C Laffin, J Rowbotham, L Price tries; D
Lambert 6, Z Kyle 5 goals) def North West 1 (J Reinders field
goal). Half time: 34-1. Players of match: Zeb Kyle, Northern;
Desmond Rankine, North West.
Rankings
after preliminary round: Northern 1; South Coast 2; Peninsula 3;
Metro North 4; South West 5; Sunshine Coast 6; Metro West 7;
Metro East 8; Darling Downs 9; Wide Bay 10; Capricornia 11; North
West 12.