Larrikins, Joeys Claim Carseldine Gold

Larrikins have won their first mixed division one competition with a tense 5-4 win over One Kick Wonders on Wednesday night at Carseldine.

Boasting a mixture of new and experienced Kick It players, the crew in green and gold set up an emphatic opening 20 minutes.

A heavy dose of rucking and speed through the middle helped Larrikins create some crucial momentum to catch out the defenders of One Kick Wonders.

A directional play on the goal line sucked in three One Kicks players to allow a quick dummy half pass to Kristian Wanka to stroll through for their first points.

Five minutes later, a similar set up which saw Queensland Mens Rep star Nathan McCarthy send Lachlan Marsh over untouched from 10 metres out.

With the score 2-0 inside eight minutes and One Kicks main man Corey Pocock nullified, Larrikins kept the foot on the pedal.

Their method was simple – Roll the subs, ruck direct, suck in the defence and spread the ball to the edges.

This time it was Steve McCormack who off a quick ruck put Nathan McCarthy through in a yarning hole out wide to score.

More pain was piled on shortly after as Simon Kurtz grubbered through the legs of Connor Pocock to notch up his side’s fourth try of the half.

The fatigue was evident as One Kicks absorbed plenty of attack from Larrikins.

A couple of tired missed touches on the goal line helped Ben Taylor dive over for his side’s fifth try to end the half.

An upbeat Larrikins side went into the break with an imposing 5-0 lead.

In stark contrast, an incensed and desperate One Kick Wonders side huddled together.

Missing key members Mason Hasselmeyer and Rachel Toohey through injury, their side rallied.

Some basic footy got them on the right track early with direct rucking and momentum-based kicking.

Rep stud Corey Pocock got his side on the board first from a 20m kick off the back of three quick rucks.

It was a recipe for success as the captain repeated his efforts minutes later to bring the score within three.

Not to be outdone, Larrikins rucked well, turned the ball over deep and defended well man-to-man.

It took a pin-point cross kick from Pocock to find his bother Connor unmarked out wide to give them their third try of the half.

At 5-3 the game began to tighten up.

A clearly hungry One Kicks side pressed the Larrikins defence with a number of kicks only to come up empty.

Opportunities began to present themselves both teams as Nathan McCarthy and Lachlan Marsh narrowly missed groundings in the in-goal.

For One Kicks, Matt Beard and Corey Pocock came up empty with kicks dead in-goal as the final minutes ensued.

Maroons’ vice captain Jayden Turnbull turned the screws and came up with a short grubber of his own to bring the scores within 1.

With 30 seconds on the clock, Larrikins retained possession on the kick-off to ice the game.

Congratulations to Larrikins on their inaugural Carseldine division one win!

Larrikins def One Kick Wonders 5-4
Larrikins: Kristian Wanka, Nathan McCarthy, Lachlan Marsh, Simon Kurtz, Ben Taylor
One Kick Wonders: Corey Pocock (2), Connor Pocock, Jayden Turnbull
Player of the Match: Nathan McCarty

---

Joeys have claimed their second consecutive Carseldine mens title with a hard fought 6-5 win over LGMs.

The reigning champs re-ignited their rivalry with LGMs after both teams finished on top of the leaderboard for the third consecutive season.

One of the most experienced Kick It teams in history, Joeys opened their account first through player of the match Tristan Bell-Blissner.

The Joey’s middle man dish out the same punishment two minutes later with a short grubber to score and push his side’s lead out to 2-0 early.

A key trait of these two teams is their fast-paced rucking, strong up-in-your-face defence and tactical kicking. This game was no exception.

As both teams took their shots, errors in the field of play were rare. In fact there were more forced goal line dropouts than errors in the first half.

It was this theme that set up Joeys’ third try.

A valuable repeat set on LGMs goal line created an opportunity for Jayden Turnbull and Corey Pocock to dump and split on the winger to push their side’s lead out to three.

It was the same set up only minutes later but it came undone.

A much improved defence structure foiled a split only to see an errant lop pass by Jason West intercepted by speedster Jesse Ripley to snap back momentum.

It was this momentum that remained with LGMs for the final minutes of the first half.

A repeat set on the Joeys goal line caught out some tired middle defenders as North Brisbane Shark Dean Saxvik put Reegan Weldon over untouched.

The halftime couldn’t come soon enough for Joeys with LGMs in full control.

Much like the fixture games between the two teams, periods of quality end-to-end footy took place. Often taking something special to break the game open.

A loose ball from Joeys while attacking on the LGMs goal line was scooped up by Jesse Ripley who raced 50m to score.

As momentum returned to the challengers, Corey McNally sent Billy Robertson over in the corner to level the scores.

It was a case of who wanted this game more.

Enter Corey Pocock. To stop the rot, he put in a short kick to score to push Joeys ahead.

Jesse Ripley replied in kind with a kick of his own.

As we entered the championship minutes, Pocock would catch out some tired middle goal line defence to push the Joeys ahead by one again.

Despite a late charge, LGMs came up short in a hotly contested Mens final.

Well done to Joeys of their Carseldine mens win 6-5.

Joeys def LGMs 6-5
Joeys: Corey Pocock (4), Tristan Bell-Blissner (2)
LGMs: Jesse Ripley (3), Reegan Weldon, Billy Robertson
Player of the Match: Tristan Bell-Blissner

---

Well done to our Lumber Punks Try Assist champion Elliot Petracci who finished with 10 assists on the season.

A special mention goes to our CarseldineMixed division 1 assist leader Rob Lunt (7) – Soup A-Stars & Mixed division 2 assist leader Jake Harding (10) – Balls Of Fury.

---

Congratulations to Troopers on defeating Beehive 9-7 in the Carseldine mixed division two final.

A special thanks to our Carseldine grand final sponsors Grill’d Chermside, Newstead Remedial Massage, LIVIN, Lumber Punks

Next season at Carseldine kicks-off on Wednesday, August 11th. Registrations are now open!

Save the date – Sunday, December 5th. Carseldine will play host to the biggest event of the year, our Charity Cash Comp. Guaranteed $1,500 prize up for grabs + event donation to LIVIN. Check it out!