On the back of a starring performance from fullback Luke Calthrope, the Smithtown Tigers U12s claimed their second straight premiership, defeating Bowraville 26-6 in the final.
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Luke crossed the line for all four of the Tigers’ tries but their coach Andrew Petterson credited the entire 21 players for the victory.
“Luke had a huge performance and finished the season very strong, he grew a head taller and built up extra aggression which took his game to the next level,” Petterson said.
“But it takes a team effort to make all the tackles throughout the game and each player does their role by taking a hit up which puts Luke and other players in a position to score.
“We have 21 players and all of them played for at least 20-minutes, it was a huge team effort to defeat the minor premiers.”
Petterson’s side finished the year in second position and lost to Bowraville three times during the regular season, but they knocked them off in both finals matches.
“We switched on when it came to finals time and we defeated Bowraville in the major semi and quite comfortably on Saturday,” Petterson said.
The Tigers plan will be to continue their premiership streak and win the U13s competition next year.
Petterson doesn’t know if he will stay on as coach but he expressed he will put his hand up for the role.
Petterson said their was a fantastic atmosphere on the day and there were more than 1,200 paying adults through the gate and around 400 children in attendance.
Petterson, who is also the coaching coordinator for the Tigers, said the club is hoping to continue to build the junior sides for next season.
“We didn’t have a side in the U14s or U16s this year and we are working on having a junior side for each age group next season,” Petterson said.
“Applications are open for the coaching roles and we plan on putting people in charge of each age group and building a team around the coach.”
