Sport
29 June, 2024
Danes smash Bears in 50th anniversary round
Pittsworth Danes faced off against the Oakey Bears on the weekend, in what was the 50 year anniversary of the 1974 Premiership game between Pittsworth and Oakey. With wins across the board, it would seem fifty years on - the Danes are still too good for the Bears.
1974 REUNION
A nostalgic evening was had last Saturday at Club Pittsworth when players from the Danes A Grade side of 1974 reunited on the anniversary of their Premiership win, fifty years earlier.
Fourteen of the nineteen original team members attended, with the furthest travelling from Deception Bay.
There were lots of laughs and memories shared of the ‘good old days’ when they were the young Danes.
The players were each presented with a commemorative jersey sponsored by Lindenbergs, J.&B. Faux Electrical, Pittsworth Tyre and Battery, S.&K. Drilling, Condamine Clothing, and the Pittsworth Old Boys and Supporters, before enjoying a roast meal at the clubhouse.
The 1974 team donned their new shirts and made a guard of honour, as the current A Grade side took to the field for their game against the Bears.
Captain coach of the 1974 side, Ian Farrell remembers that final against Oakey well.
He kicked a field goal in the first half to put the Danes in the lead over Oakey, who were still without points.
“We led one nil at half time,” Farrell said and remembers commentator Pat O’Shea jesting that he was calling a game of soccer with points like that, not rugby league.
He recalled (as if it only happened yesterday) the one winning try that saw the Danes achieve victory.
“Ian Virgin broke from dummy half, he slipped straight through the middle, fed to Graham McDonald, who fed it then onto Robbie Thompson who scored under the post,” Farrell said.
“I had a kick under the post and lucky enough it went over,” he added.
Ian Virgen said it was a very big crowd on the day of the Premiership all those years ago - a massive Pittsworth following.
“The whole team was Pittsworth born and bred, except for our captain coach Ian Farrell,” Virgen said.
Organising the reunion on Saturday was no easy feat and would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Wendy Porter, Debbie Standing and Monica Sutton.
The year 1976 marked the next Premiership win for the Danes, and there’ll no doubt be a celebration of that victory in 2026.
RESERVE GRADE REPORT
After turning up very casually throughout the warm up and into the opening minutes of the game, the team managed to secure a dominant 42-0 win over Oakey.
After putting ourselves under pressure through regular errors in the opening 15 minutes, we held together defensively throughout back-to-back sets and goal line pressure to stop Oakey putting points on the board.
After regaining composure and managing to complete our sets the tries started to flow, giving Jake Johnston the opportunity to convert 7 from 7 attempts.
Strong efforts across the park with a mention to under 19 players Lauchlan Thompson, Augustine Lehuede, Ethan Brose and Tysne Stevens contributing well with their opportunities.
The team will need to improve coming up against Dalby on Sunday and needing the win to stay in the top 5.
Players votes went to Jordan Fraser-Bellette, Ausage Meauli and Sam Fraser-Bellette.
-Trent Smith & Darby
A GRADE REPORT
Continuing the recent trend shown by the Danes, their A Grade clash against Oakey Bears over the weekend as a roller coaster.
Emphasising the need to play their own brand of football, Pittsworth started well by repelling an early attacking raid before cross the strip twice to take an 8-0 lead.
Unfortunately our tendency to compound errors then returned which saw the Danes fail to complete another set until the dying minutes of the first half.
This flood of possession allowed Oakey to take the half-time lead 12-8.
The second stanza was a physical affair with both sides guilty of playing sub-par football, but it was the Danes ultimately getting over the line with tries to Nic Toeava and Jordan O’Shea, ensuring a 20-18 victory.
Pittsworth takes on the Dalby Diehards at the Kennel this weekend in a clash that will see the victor grab fifth spot on the ladder as we head towards the business end of the season - hoping to see a large Pittsworth crowd on Sunday afternoon.
- Quinny & Darb
It was a refreshing performance from Oakey after being annihilated by Warwick’s Cowboys 0-70, the week before.
Player of the Match went to Jackson Luscombe and Sala Falelua-Malio was Oakey’s best man on the day.
In an interview with Toowoomba Rugby League, the Danes A Grade Coach James Quinn acknowledged their competitiveness.
“I think we need to give a lot of credit to Oakey to be honest, they were really tough tonight, they were very physical, and they were up for the game,” he said.
“Yeah we were really unhappy with our first half.
“How we operated as a team was really poor.
“We just weren’t jelling well, which is pretty unfortunate at this point in the season.”
THIS SUNDAY
The weekend matches against Dalby kick off at the Kennel with Under 19s at 11.30am, Reserve Grade at 1pm and A Grade at 2.30pm, at Club Pittsworth.
