Sport
19 August, 2024
Roosters keep finals hopes flying
A HARD-fought win by the Atherton Roosters senior men’s A Grade over Kangaroos in the FNQ Rugby League elimination final on Saturday night gives the club another shot at the premiership cup.
The 18-8 win for the Roosters means they advance to the next round of finals with another do-or-die semi-final showdown against Innisfail this Saturday.
It was Kangaroos who posted first points of the night with a try in the seventh minute before the Roosters replied with three of their own from Jhidan Dikes, Wesley Walker and Lachlan West to lead 14-4.
Kangaroos crossed for another on the half time siren and the Roosters went to the break leading 14-8.
The second half was a battle up the middle as both sets of forwards tried to get the upper hand.
Centre Lachlan West’s second match try at the 65th minute gave the Roosters some breathing space and they were good in defending that lead in the final stages.
Coach Joel Riethmuller was more than happy with the boys’ efforts, describing the match as a “proper game of footy finals”.
“We would have had a bigger winning margin if we hadn’t of missed three conversions and a penalty kick,” he said.
“We lost our fullback in the first 10 minutes of the game, then one of our front rowers in the 25th minute so we played the majority of the game with two on the bench.”
The club will be waiting to see how serious the injury is to fullback Jayden Connors as to whether he will play this Saturday.
Roosters now have to take on the Innisfail Leprechauns at Barlow Park on Saturday afternoon and even though Innisfail won their latest encounter 34-10, Riethmuller is not fazed.
“We had a lot of errors in that game that hurt us,” he said.
“The scoreline didn’t reflect the game - up until the 65th minute, we were in that game 18-8 – then came the tipping point and we made some crucial errors.
“But if we turn up and play like we’ve been playing, we will give them a run.
“There’s a bit of confidence within the team, our fitness is good, we just need to turn up and play.”
Riethmuller says he expects the fans to make and effort and come along, with a bus transporting around 30 to last Saturday’s game.
The Roosters and Innisfail match kicks off this Saturday from 5.30pm at Barlow Park.
