Sport
20 August, 2022
Rattlers finish on a high
THE Brisbane Valley Rattlers ended their debut season of senior AFL on a high note as they defeated the Coomera Magpies 8.11.59 to 7.7.49 at Fernvale Sports Park last Friday night.
It was fitting for the Rattlers to finally win on home soil, after their maiden victory in the QFA (Queensland Football Association) Division 4 Seniors South competition occurred on Beenleigh soil a week earlier.
On both occasions the Rattlers overturned a deficit in the final quarter, having been 16 points behind at three-quarter time against the Beenleigh Buffaloes before trailing by five points at the same stage against Coomera.
While Brisbane Valley finished eighth in the nine-team competition, Coomera slipped from sixth to seventh.
Last Friday was the first time the two teams met, with their May 27 fixture abandoned due to flooding.
The hosts led 1.2.8 to 1.1.7 at quarter-time before the visitors held a narrow 4.2.26 to 3.5.23 advantage at half-time.
The Magpies led 6.7.43 to 5.8.38 at three-quarter time, before the Rattlers landed three goals and three behinds in the final quarter while their opponents managed just one goal.
Nathan Dempsey booted four of Brisbane Valley’s goals while Joshua Spicer kicked two, with Paul Macknamara and Dion Willett landing one each.
Liam Sherriff stood out with five goals for Coomera, while Dyson Sawford-Smith kicked the other two majors for the Magpies.
Rattlers club president Graham Smith unashamedly wept tears of joy after both of Brisbane Valley’s victories.
“I’ll be honest with you, I cried. I was that proud of the boys,” he said.
Smith said the back-to-back victories were a huge boost for the club and a just reward for the players for sticking together through thick and thin.
Smith said the most impressive thing about the first victory was that the Rattlers fielded only 16 players, and were down to 15 players when one player exited with injury in the second quarter.
Smith praised the Buffaloes for their sportsmanship considering they chose to make it an even playing field, by starting with 16 players and then decreasing to 15 when the Rattlers were down to 15.
In addition to the two wins, Smith said the Rattlers had a successful year in terms of “having a great group of players” and gelling as a team, and promoting the club as well as promoting AFL.
“The feedback we got from other clubs at the end of games was they said we were tenacious, we didn’t give up, and we’re committed to playing good football,” Smith said.
“We’ve got the respect of the other clubs we played against.” Smith said planning was already underway for next year, with the Rattlers looking at recruiting while hoping most of this year’s playing group would continue playing.
Smith said the senior club also wanted to work closely with the junior club to help build a pathway from junior to senior AFL.
