By Kirra Livingstone
THE Beerwah Open Women’s team was forced to forfeit its opening round match due to a shortage of players after five players were selected in the BMD Premiership competition.
As flagged by GC&M News in January, clubs were expected to come under pressure due to the BMD representative competition.
Under the rules if a player is selected for that competition they are not allowed to play for their local club. Beerwah Bulldogs club president Ref Hammill said without securing more players in the interim, the team will have to forfeit their next few games until more players become available.
“Just like we thought, we are suffering because a large number of our players have been selected in the BMD Premiership playing for either the Sunshine Coast Falcons or Redcliffe Dolphins,” he said.
“By round 3 we should have most of our women back from the BMD, but at the moment we don’t have enough girls to put on the field.
“Every other Open Women’s team had enough players to play in the first round of the season.”
The first game was scheduled to be against the Noosa Pirates in Tewantin at 5:30pm on March 16.
It is expected the Beerwah Open Women will be back in full force when they play the Caloundra Sharks on April 6 at 2:30pm.
This will be the Bulldogs’ first home game of the Open Women season, and will precede the debut matches for the Beerwah Bulldogs A Grade and Reserve Grade Men. The Reserve Grade team will play the Gympie Devils at 4pm, and the A Grade side will play the Caloundra Sharks at 5:30pm. Beerwah Open Women’s player, Jordan Jackson, was recently named in the Queensland Sapphires squad in the National Championships.
“She is just another example of the great product we are pumping out of our club, she’s got the potential to make it into the NRLW the more she progresses,” club president Ref Hammill said.
“Jordan is currently playing in the BMD for the Sunshine Coast Falcons, and it is great that she has been picked in this state side for the first time.”
If Jordan was signed to an NRLW squad this year or next, it would make her the second Beerwah Bulldogs female player to be signed, and fourth senior player.
Reed Mahoney, Annette Brander and Mitchell Jennings are other former Beerwah Bulldogs players who have been signed in the NRL and NRLW.
The Beerwah Bulldogs Reserve Grade Men and A Grade Men both beat the Ipswich Swifts in the teams’ first trial games of 2024, winning 16-12 and 36-10 respectively. Beerwah Bulldogs president, Ref Hammill, said it was good to blow out the cobwebs for the teams and to give some younger players a look at senior level.
kirra@gcnews.com.au