The drought has broken for the Ilfracombe Scorpions senior rugby league team in more ways than one.
A week after they were able to play in front of their home crowd for the first time in two years, the team has won its inaugural central west A grade grand final.
They took on reigning premiers, the Diamantina Devils, who were hoping to collect their seventh consecutive premiership, in Winton on Saturday afternoon, scoring first and never letting the Winton team hit the lead.
At half-time the score was 22-6 to Ilfracombe and they finished with a 30-12 scoreline.
Long-time Scorpions member Nadia Hoad said playing at home the week before had given the team a mental lift.
Thanks to ongoing drought in 2015, the club was unable to keep watering the grass on their oval. Although players kept training on the dustbowl it turned into, they had to move home games to rival territory at Longreach.
Rain at the end of summer meant that council could finally begin a revitalisation project to level the oval and replant it with better grass, along with installing a new watering system, which was christened with a win over the Blackall Magpies in the preliminary final the weekend before last.
The Scorpions and the Devils have lined up against each other in grand finals since 2010.
Last year the Scorpions played a “home” grand final at Longreach after beating the Devils in Winton the week before, but this year the Devils were undefeated.
“It’s always a mental thing when you play against Winton,” said Nadia, whose husband Trent is the club’s triumphant coach/player.
“Our boys defended their line for 10 sets at one stage. Things just seemed to go our way this year.”
When the club began in 1988, it won the reserve grade final that year.
The central west dropped the B grade competition in 1997 and the Scorpions joined the A grade, making it to their first grand final in 2003, ironically against the Devils.
Tom Elliott was coaching the side that year and was still playing when they finally broke through for the win, 13 years later.
Celebrations were still ongoing in Ilfracombe on Monday.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
