2023 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championship - Day 1 Review
Friday saw the opening rounds of the three-day 2023 Santos Wheelchair Rugby National Championships at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre at Carrara on the Gold Coast.
Eight teams from Australia and New Zealand will contest the Division 1 and 2 National Championships between Friday 2 June and the Sunday 4 June gold medal matches.
Here are the highlights of Friday’s preliminary clashes:
Division 1 second round action
New South Wales Gladiators v Queensland Cyclones
In the wheelchair rugby version of a State of Origin match up, the reigning national champions NSW Gladiators defeated the classy Qld Cyclones 51-40 in a swashbuckling match-up of teams bursting at the seams with Australian Steelers players.
And the metal-on-metal crunches were louder than ever as the blues and Maroon’s tactics saw more blocks than a bucket of Lego.
The Cyclones took an early lead with minutes of play spent in the Queensland quarter before the Gladiators finally got a breakthrough, evening the score board and taking a quick goal seconds out from the first quarter finish.
It was a Ryley Batt vs Chris Bond fast and furious battle on court for much of the second quarter with Queensland’s Ella Sabljak maintaining a strong defence against a relentless NSW team.
Raging into the second half with a 23-20 lead the Gladiators scored quickly before the Cyclones blew in and headed for try line success.
A brutal mid court clash between Bond and Batt with Steelers teammate Andrew Edmondson in hot pursuit prevented an early Queensland try until play moved down the court and a sneaky hole in the pack saw Bond cruise in to score.
Spectacular 360 degree pivots dominated the game with longer ball throws breaking up the teams before clustering to block on the score line.
The intensity of the play and overhead ball passes spiced up the action as the third quarter drew to an end with NSW going into the final quarter with a four-point lead.
First score to the Gladiators with a toss from Batt to Edmondson and play stayed in the Blues zone until a quick reverse move by Foxley -Conolly took the play to the Queensland end to score.
NSW dominated in the closing stages of the match stretching the lead out and continuing strong defensive moves to keep the maroons at bay.
Nimble play by diminutive Gladiator Robyn Lambird saw another cruise up court in the latter stages of the match to score the Blues 50th goal and an impressive lead over the Maroons.
Batt said it was a happy return to competition after a lengthy injury-induced stint on the sidelines.
“We haven’t been together as a full team at all this year and it’s my first day back since a rotator cuff injury I got at the world champs eight months ago,” Batt said.
“I really didn’t have high hopes for my own performance, but the team were fantastic.
“It was a good start against a really tough Queensland team, so I’m really pumped with that result ahead of a match against a sharp looking Victorian team in the morning.
“I’m not at peak fitness and I’m not at peak strength but that was a really good test out there today and my shoulder is tracking well - onwards and upwards,” he said,
Queensland flyer Brayden Foxley-Connolly said it had been a tough day, with the match against New South Wales the latest chapter in an intense rivalry.
“We went down by 11 points, but we just must keep our heads up and just start thinking about the next match. There’s a way to go [in the tournament] yet,” he said.
Brand Makers New Zealand v Victoria Protect Thunder
After a hard-fought loss in their first-round match earlier in the day - against no less a team than the defending national champions, the New South Wales Gladiators - Brand Makers New Zealand had plenty to prove heading into their second Division1 match up, this time against Victoria Protect Thunder.
It was a tough assignment against the team that just hours earlier had defeated local hopes Queensland Cyclones in their first-round clash, but reason enough for what turned out to be a cracker of a match.
New Zealand 3.0-star Hayden Barton-Cootes was in the thick of the action from the get-go as were his wheel black teammates Cody Everson and Gareth Lynch as they did everything in their power to take it up to the Victorians on the neutral turf of Carrara.
Victoria’s Shae Graham was a first half standout as Jayden Warn and Stu Robinson both kept the momentum from their successful morning outing going and to make sure they had their nose in front at half time, which they did - if only just - at 23-22.
The third quarter was a try-for-try old west-style shootout that saw Victoria gain just one extra try from their half time haul to lead 34-32 with eight minutes to go in their working day.
And it was a lead big enough that, along with the incentive of two wins and no losses on day one and a couple of trademark Warn and Robinson tries the last few minutes that were enough to get the Victorians over the line 43-46.
Graham said the Victorians are making no secret of wanting to take the national championship home.
“Two wins on day one is pretty good,” she said understatedly.
“We were a bit rusty to start off with a few new people on the team, but we’re slowly ironing out the kinks and getting better with each game, which is good,” she said.
Earlier in Division 1
NSW Gladiators v Brand Makers New Zealand
The competition got away to a crunching start when the New South Wales Gladiators kick-started their quest for a national championships Division 1 three-peat against a plucky Brand Makers New Zealand outfit in the opening match of the tournament.
After turning a solitary try ahead at the first two turns (13-12 and 28-27), New South Wales took things up a notch in the third quarter, finding holes in New Zealand’s stacked defensive wall when it seemed there were none.
Human wrecking ball Ryley Batt starred as he and Australian Steelers teammate Andrew Edmondson were always where it counted in defence and attack, with another Steeler Emilie Miller upholding her end of the bargain with solid hands in the centre.
New Zealand playmakers Cameron Leslie and Hayden Barton-Cootes were able to keep the internationals within four tries at the final turn (41-37) - Barton-Cootes plucking the high balls at will and Leslie sealing try after try from flashy drives through the centre.
Kiwi Michael Todd was a workhorse down the line, but time and the numbers on the scoreboard were slipping away.
The final quarter saw both coaches make the most of their benches, but little could stop the Batt-Edmondson rampage as New South Wales surged to a 56-47 first round win.
Victoria Protect Thunder v Queensland Cyclones
And in their quests to break the New South Wales dominance of recent years, Victoria Protect Thunder and the Queensland Cyclones played a cracking match for their first hit outs of the tournament.
After an even first half that saw Queensland’s nose in front 29-28 at the long break, the match continued to enjoy a generous dose of physicality with flame-haired Queensland star Brayden Foxley-Conolly upended on the floor four times in the first half, before he bounced back to become one of his team’s chief playmakers in the second.
Former wheelchair basketball star Ella Sabljak, captain Chris Bond and Josh Nicholson did their bit for the maroon effort, creating open space where little existed, but it was Victoria that took a 43-41 lead into the final stanza to set a formidable challenge for the defending silver medallists.
Indeed, the Thunder were on a roll and with Jayden Warn and Ben Fawcett dominant in defence, it was over to the slippery Stu Robinson to cross the try line twice in the final two minutes to secure a 55-50 first round win.
Friday’s Division 2 Action
West Coast Enforcers vs SA Sharks
In the opening Division 2 match of the 2023 national championships, the bumble bee-coloured West Coast Enforcers took to the court like brave ducks to water against the South Australian Sharks, taking an early lead at quarter time.
It was an intriguing opening eight minutes, followed up in style by the Andrew Holloway-led southerners levelled the score at half time.
A classic back and forth tussle followed in the third quarter before the Sharks showed their skill and a well-developed strategy to take a commanding 42-37 lead into three quarter time.
It was Holloway against WA’s Josh Hanlon for much of the game with the two captain’s swivels and speed delivering multiple glides into score, each one aided and abetted by their teammates.
An intercept and score by Holloway in the dying stages of the match didn’t take the all the sting out of the Enforcers with Shark’s debutant Mitch Bond taking to the court for some speedy chasing before landing himself in the ‘naughty box’ – the first for the tournament.
Undeterred and cheered on by his teammates the youngster went on to score moments after his return to the court, before the Sharks swam through the defence to cruise to a 56-49 win.
ACT Buccaneers v Queensland Tornadoes
In their first hit outs of the 2023 championships, The Queensland Tornadoes and ACT Buccaneers staged a classic arm wrestle for the best part of three quarters before Queensland decided to burn some serious rubber.
It was the biggest try surge of the day with the scoreboard going from level pegging to the Buccaneers suddenly wondering how to stem the flow of tries from a Queensland outfit eight up and determined to put a show for the large home crowd.
Flashy drives through the centre by former rugby union player Conor Tweed and Ryan Boyd flying out wide helped build the Maroons’ confidence heading home while Luke Matthews and former basketballer Ryan Williams were doing their solid best to create open space and bring the high balls down.
ACT’s Jacob Cremen-Darkin, Jacinta Richardson and Ash Treseder played their hearts out in defence, setting things up for the ACT to score two tries in the final minute, but Queensland weren’t to be denied first round bragging rights 45-51.
New Zealand import Richardson said she is happy to be playing on the Gold Coast and excited to play in her first national competition.
She said there was some good and some bad play and whilst feeling hot and tired, she thought she had some good court speed.
“I need to work on my passing and my awareness on court; you want to be everywhere, but you can’t obviously,” she said ahead of her second pool match of the day against the South Australian Sharks.
The win was also a first at the national championships for the Tornadoes Tasmanian-based coach David Wood.
South Australia Sharks v ACT
The SA Sharks made it two from two with a late afternoon all the way 59-47 win over the ACT Buccaneers who went down earlier in the day to the Queensland Tornadoes.
Jacinta Richardson again gave her all for the Buccaneers, while Kadir Faki and Will Taheny played their hearts out for the win.
Saturday’s matches:
9:00 WA v ACT
9:45 QLD C v NZL
10:30 SA v QLD T
11:15 VIC v NSW
12:45 Division 2 Semi Final 1
14:15 Division 2 Semi Final 2
15:45 Division 1 Semi Final 1
17:15 Division 1 Semi Final 2
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Contact: Chris Nay (CEO, Wheelchair Rugby Australia)
M: 0405 036 727
chris@wheelchairrugby.com.au
Tamara Morris (Media Manager)
0400 658 429
tamara.morris.media@outlook.com
Wayne Hickson (Media Consultant)
M: 0407 028 917
hicksonmedia@gmail.com