Tigers spoil Blues day in the mud

Well we have finally arrived at Round 1 of the 2025 Hart Sport QFA Division 1 season and on cue the heavens opened up at G Rae Oval at Palmwoods for the much anticipated game with the Hinterland Blues.

A thirty millimetre deluge hit the ground yesterday morning to swamp the ground which had already had a tough start to the year with Cyclone Alfred and it then showered off and on from that point with the main game being largely played in pouring rain.

It was always going to be a hard slog for a game which should have been a spectacle with the Blues having recruited well during the off season and the Tigers looking to see how they might back up their 2024 Premiership glory.

The Tigers went into the game with just twelve of their premiership team with the absence of Ryan Eyles, Jeremy Duck and Sam Paterson through retirement, Tom Fry on the Lions Academy list and Sherwood, Will Brohm playing at Sandhurst in the Bendigo League, Dan Saunders to Maroochy and four on the current injury list. This enabled the inclusion of nine local boys in Xavier Craven, Hayden Fry, Ben Wilkinson, Louis Quin, Danny Athanasellis, Noah Breen, including debutants Hayden Rainbow from Wilston Grange, Rhys Syrett, Alex Craigie and one new recruit from Tasmania in Aidan Williams from Bridgenorth Football Club.

It was a heavy start to the game after the Reserves chopped the deck up in fine style but the skill level was still very impressive with players from both sides showing deft work by hand and foot.

The first major took five minutes to come with 2024 league leading goal kicker Zac Quin getting the Tigers off to a good start but it wasn’t long before the Blues best player and Captain Thomas Wildschnat had them on the board as well. Wildschnat won the league medal in 2024 and looks every bit as ready to reprise the role this year. He went on to kick four goals for the day being the entire score for the Blues in a strong performance.

The Tigers pinched a handy goal late in the term through the clever in and under work of Alex Craigie but once again Wildschnat kicked the equaliser at the other end to have the two sides almost level at the first break with the Blues one point to the better.

Tigers 2024 Club Champion Beau Harris continued where he left off last season with his usual aggressive attack on the ball and effective tackling to mount up the possessions and get the team going including kicking the first goal of the second term.

It was all Tigers in the second term with young Craigie kicking a long range goal on the back of a strong mark which was impressive given what must have been a very heavy ball. A third goal on the run to Digby Morison and the Tigers had broken out to a solid lead by half time given the worsening conditions.

The Tigers five time club champion Jack Collings was right in his element in the heavy conditions being able to gain effective clearances for the visitors in one of his vintage performances while Zac Puncken was remarkably clean in the on ball department with his work at ground level giving the Tigers a host of possession all day.

Jamie Ivers was a powerhouse in the ruck all day and around the ground revelling in the heavy conditions to be one of the Tigers best.

The Tigers defence was a feature all day keeping the Blues to just four goals with James Stolz leading the way while Hayden Fry was effective as well.

The conditions continued to deteriorate in the second half with only the Tigers able to kick a goal in the third term as both sides slogged it out.

The Blues were able to kick two goals early in the final term as they threw all they could at the Tigers but the visitors rallied and steadied to hold them off for a very good win to start their season.

The Tigers play traditional rivals Sandgate after the Easter Break at Lemke Road in the Anzac Day Round in a marquee game for the season with the awarding of the Paul Meakin John Stackpoole Medal.

Scores: Mayne 6.10.46 d Hinterland 4.7.31

Goals: A Craigie 2, B Harris, D Morison, L Quin, Z Quin 1.

Best: Z Puncken, J Ivers, J Collings, J Stolz, B Harris, D Morison.