28 October 2021
This year we had 302 players across 22 teams. What was very pleasing was we had 2 teams in every grade from U/6 to U/12 for the mixed and boys’ teams and around 20 plus players for the U/13 – U/17 boys’ squads. We were very lucky to have good numbers as we experienced quite a few season ending injuries in the older grades early on. We did struggle with numbers in U7, 8 and 9 and really stretched to make 2 sides by supporting each other each week. We have struggled with numbers in these grades since coming back from the COVID break.
I am very proud of the fact that we were able to field 3 girls’ teams in the U/12, U/14 and U/17 this year and we had good numbers and helped grow the girls/women’s game locally. We topped this off with winning the U17 girls’ premiership and did really well in U14 losing in the second lot of extra time in the preliminary final. Next year we will be looking to field an extra U16 team for the girls.
We also managed to have 149 registered volunteers, we’ve seen yearly increases in both player numbers and volunteer numbers. This is a reflection of our club and is something to be proud of. I am hoping to pick up a few more players across most younger age groups to make fielding teams a bit easier each week. We had a very successful season on and off the field with the club winning the Barry Blanchfield Club Championship for overall best club in the competitive age groups. We also won the Ivan Bradford memorial trophy for most teams in a grand final with 4 teams represented.
We managed to win the U15 and U17 titles and were only narrowly beaten for the trophy in the U13 age level, this was a fantastic game all-round. We were soundly beaten in the U16 grand final but a huge credit to the team and coaching staff for making it to the big day.
We trained between MJRL and Brothers once again and were able to fit everyone in albeit it can be a bit squashy at JRL with new teams and clubs utilising the venue as well as us. I will see if we can improve anything in relation to training times and venues next year, on the whole everyone worked in really well. Building on what we encouraged last year we will once again be wanting teams of the same age group to train on the same days and fields next to each other to foster better relationships not only for the players but for the coaches and managers as well. A big thankyou to both MJRL and Brothers Seniors for allowing us to utilise the fields for training.
On the rep scene we had a number of players train and play with the Cutters squads for U16 and U18 and U17 girls. We also had number of players picked in school-based Mackay and Capricornia teams from our club, so congratulations to these players. We had 3 players represent Queensland Country teams with Baden Robinson in U17 boys and Emily Bella and Isabelle Bartolo representing U17 girls. There were also a number of girls that made it into the U17 NQ Marlins invitational side.
A big thankyou to our sponsors for their ongoing support, we have engaged sponsors for our presentation night at the MECC to offset the large cost of holding the event. This night would not be possible without these important sponsors and members of our club. We have also asked for sponsors for next year’s new QRL logo requirements for a new playing strip. Bernie has done a fantastic job with organising this, it was a mammoth task to pull this together with the help of others in the merchandise department.
To our sponsors we value your support greatly and hope next year is a good year for your businesses and for our club as a whole. To our volunteers, the coaches, managers, FAO and League safes, thank you for your support and dedication this year, everybody worked really hard to get our club on the field this year and clubs like ours don’t run without you. What I am most proud of at this club is our culture, it’s not all about winning, winning is great as we saw on grand final day twice but it’s about developing kids into better players but more importantly better humans. This is shown in the way our players and volunteers conduct themselves during games and functions. We are not perfect but on the whole we are a good example.
Welcome to our newest committee member Lauren Russell, she has come aboard to lead the merchandise team in 2022. Lastly, I will finish with thanking the committee, these are amazing people with genuine passion for getting kids playing footy. I would like to specifically thank our fab 5, Taryn, Trish, Michelle, Bernie and Anne-Louise, this club would not have run this year if it wasn’t for your involvement and constant work to keep the club ticking over and thriving during the season.
Thankyou everyone for season 2021, I look forward to season 2022.
Duncan Watt
Wanderers President