Queensland Murri proved too much to handle for the NSW Koori side, who suffered a 32-10 loss in the Koori v Murri Under 16s Interstate Challenge at Beenleigh in Brisbane’s south today.
It was a seven tries-to-two victory for the home side, who retain the Steve “Bear” Hall Shield they won 28-20 back in 2019 before COVID-19 resulted in a three-year hiatus for the annual clash.
The Koori won the penalty count 7-4 but a mountain of possession to the Murri, combined with solid defence before sending the ball wide at the earliest opportunity was NSW’s undoing. Five of the Murri’s seven tries were scored by their back five.
The NSW team never stopped trying with forwards Lochi Moses, Jonah Moss, Brayden Nean and Xavier Williams-Byers constantly making the tough carries. Centre Tyrell Edwards made his presence felt on the left edge with strong runs.
“We had some unsung heroes out there for us today but we had too many turnovers that led to Queensland’s wealth of possession,” NSW coach Anthony McBride said.
“By the time we did get the ball we made a lot of mistakes, like unforced errors around the ruck, as the boys tried too hard to play catch-up football,” he said.
“But we told them after the game that they’ve had a great experience of what to takes to play rep football and the next steps are now up to them,” McBride said.
It took 10 minutes before NSW played their first set of six, as the Queenslanders kept them pinned in their half.
That ruthlessness led to two tries in the opening five minutes to Caiden Ahsee and Terell Leedie to give the Murri a 10-0 lead.
Off the back of two penalties NSW started to apply some pressure with continued possession.
Hooker Matari Kelly showed the ball before darting towards the try line from dummy-half to open the NSW scoring in the 17th minute. Skipper Hayden Nye converted to narrow the gap to 10-6.
After the quarter-time drinks break, Queensland started the second 20-minute stanza the way they began the game.
Some shifting down the right edge brought successive tries to winger Benji Walsh to give Queensland an 18-6 halftime lead.
The Murri did further damage with two tries in two minutes during the third quarter to sweep the score out to 28-6. A try to second rower Michael Hunnisett early in the fourth gave the Murri a 26-point lead.
A small fightback by Koori came when outside back Joe Bull survived a heavy, front-on tackle from Chris Simpson in the 70th minute to score NSW’s second try minutes later.
Queensland Murri 32 (Caiden Ahsee 2, Benji Walsh 2, Rydell Tyrrell, Terell Leedie, Michael Hunnisett tries; Tait Cameron 2 goals) def NSW Koori 10 (Matari Kelly, Joe Bull tries; Hyden Nye goal) at Bill Norris Sporting Complex, Beenleigh.
