Local Oztag venue brought nine teams to representative competition
By Kirra Livingstone
NINE Beerwah Bandit Oztag teams recently competed at the Queensland Oztag Junior Cup, with around 20 players being selected for the state Tri Series competition.
It was held at the Sunshine Coast Stadium from January 31 to February 3, with teams playing from all over the state across 16 divisions.
The Beerwah Oztag venue started in September 2023, and in their first state cup appearance they only had three teams compete.
From early 2024 to now, the venue’s numbers have risen from 250 to 400 players.
Venue manager, Steve Barons, said he was extremely happy with the teams’ efforts this year.
“All our teams did amazing, they competed really well and we are really proud of them,” he said.
From the state cup, the best junior Oztag players are selected for one of three Queensland teams to play in the Tri Series, which include the Jesters, Rebels or Fury.
Steve said 20 oztaggers were selected from the Beerwah Oztag venue, with players competing for a chance to be selected into the Queensland side for Nationals.
“We as a new club have done extremely well, in most divisions we averaged three wins and three losses,” he said.
“The competition was very competitive… you had to win more than half of your games just to make it through to quarter finals.
“We had one team, the U17s girls, make it through to quarter finals.”
He added many Oztag players were new to playing at a representative level, and are now eager to compete at that level again.
“The kids loved it, I’ve had a lot of feedback saying they can’t wait to see how they go next year because they’ll be better for the experience,” Steve said.
“It was an eye opener for those who haven’t been before, it was much bigger than what they envisaged.”
Steve is now preparing himself for the Queensland Oztag Senior Cup, taking place on March 7-9.
He has been playing Oztag since 2016, and has played for Australia a number of times.
kirra@gcnews.com.au