Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

Burdekin Trio Battle in Touch State of Origin

Three Burdekin Touch players recently returned from the State of Origin series held in Coffs Harbour. This competition between Queensland and New South Wales is held every two years and is contested just as fiercely as its Rugby League cousin. The states compete in a three-game series for Open Men, Women, and Mixed, as well as several age divisions from Under 20 to Over 65. Results from all series are aggregated to decide the overall winning state.

Michael Littlefield attended as an elite referee and officiated the first Under 20 Women’s game, followed by the next two Over 35 Men’s games. This was Michael’s third major tournament of the year and confirms his standing as one of the best referees in Australia.

Tramayne Horan represented Queensland in the Over 40 Women’s team, which began promisingly, taking the first game 5–4. Unfortunately, NSW struck back convincingly in the second game with a 5–2 win. With the series on the line in Game 3 and the scores locked at 2–2, NSW managed to score the winning try in the final seconds—taking the series 2 games to 1.

Ian Kerr represented Queensland in the Over 65 division, which was unfortunately dominated by NSW. The Cockroaches took Game 1, 3–2, putting pressure on Queensland to win Game 2 to keep the series alive. The game featured outstanding attack and desperate defence and required extra time to determine the winner. After an additional 10 minutes of play in a 3-on-3 drop-off, NSW scored the decider to win 4–3. They then completed the clean sweep with a 3–1 win in Game 3.

Unfortunately, New South Wales claimed the overall State of Origin trophy. Queensland will be back in 2027!

In other news