Doubles to halfback Jaylan Bishop and forward Lewis Jones underpinned a strong 36-22 win by NSW Koori Under 17s side of the Queensland Murri in Brisbane on Saturday (24 February).
NSW was able to reverse the fortunes from last year’s 32-10 loss with a 14-point win in 2024 to reclaim the Steve ‘Bear’ Hall Shield.
At one stage they posted 32 unanswered points to look like it would be a runaway Koori victory before a spark in the Murri side added two tries late in the second half.
NSW fortunes largely swung on the tireless work by the middles especially props Sol Tuiletufuga and Tyreke Peckham, alongside the crafty kicking and passing from five-eight Jace Baker and halback Bishop.
Both men shared try assists among NSW’s seven tries, scoring three themselves.
The controlling presence of fullback Dwayne Lyon, who scored the first four-pointer for NSW Koori, earned him Player of the Match (pictured above with L-R Willie Tonga, Eddie Monaei (QRL Indigenous Advisory Committee), and True Blue James Roberts. Photo: Courtesy QRL)
“I thought any number of our players could have won that award but Dwayne helped us with our transitioning, he was good with broken play, made some good defensive reads as well, so he was outstanding as well,” coach Mark Beetson told nswrl.com.au
“The contact from our middles laid the platform for us. Our No.9 Kory Taaffe, who is just coming into our rep system, played like he had an experienced head on his shoulders.
“There honestly wasn’t a bad player for us to be honest.”
NSW put their noses in front for the first time in the match with just four seconds left on the clock before the half-time hooter sounded.
Bishop scored his second by chasing a deftly-placed grubber from five-eighth Baker. The conversion by skipper Glassie Glassie gave the Koori a 16-10 lead at the break.
The scoreboard was in contrast to the majority of the opening half with the Murri holding the ball for long periods. It helped Queensland shoot out to a 10-0 lead after just 14 minutes off tries from centre Jacol Barney and lock Nash Tollen.
The Murri were also leading the penalty count 3-0 making the Koori work hard to maintain possession and field position.
Four minutes later NSW were able to get themselves on the scoresheet with Bishop giving Lyons some space to the left of the uprights (10-4).
It started an avalanche of points for NSW that didn’t stop until the 59th minute when Murri scored a quick double through Barney – his second – and then forward Cooper Murphy.
“At half time I just reminded them of all the work we’d done leading up that sort of character-building situation when things just aren’t going your way,” Beetson said.
“When we were down 10-0 they didn’t drop their heads. They remembered they just had to play for each other, hold onto possession a bit more, to fight their way back – and they did.”
In the second half NSW picked up where they left off scoring two tries within four minutes to jump ahead 26-10.
First, bench forward Lewis Jones completed some nice lead-up work from Baker and Bishop, before Baker landed a fine individual try. He juggled the pass but managed to put in grubber kick which he successfully chased and grounded (32-10).
Izaak Moggridge took over the goal-kicking from Glassie, who had an ankle issue, and then Kaidyn Peckham converted NSW’s sixth try with Jones getting his double in the 55th minute.
Queensland then hit back with their double – winger Dustin Appo converting both – to climb within 10 points (32-22).
But the fightback was snuffed out by NSW’s Lucas Harding, who carried a few defenders across the line just seconds from full-time.
NSW Koori 36 (Jaylan Bishop 2, Lewis Jones 2, Dwayne Lyons, Jace Baker, Lucas Harding tries; Glassie Glassie 2, Izaak Moggridge, Kaidyn Peckham goals) def. QLD Murri 22 (Jacol Barney 2, Nash Tollen, Cooper Murphy tries; Dustin Appo 3 goals) at the Logan Metro Sports Complex.
