Lainey Grieve is a fierce tackler and she had the opportunity to show her skills at the recent Queensland Schools Rugby League Championships. On Friday 1 September, Lainey Grieve from Year 6 travelled to Mackay for the inaugural Queensland School Sport 11-12 Years Girls Rugby League Championships after being selected for the Sunshine Coast regional team earlier in the year at the regional trials, when she played as part of the Glasshouse District team.

The Championships were held over four days from Saturday 2 September to Tuesday 5 September and were contested by 11 teams from all over Queensland. This was the first time the Sunshine Coast girls had played together as a team and ended up playing some of the top ranked teams in their draw. They scored and defended well in every game they played and even though they did not win any games in the first couple of days of competition, they were still ranked 8th going into finals day.

They played the Wide Bay team for the finals and secured a 16-14 win to move them up the ladder to 7th overall. The northern region team won the competition overall.

Lainey’s team scored tries in every game with Lainey scoring one try and setting up several others. Lainey played in the centre or on the wing so was able to use her speed and strength well in these positions.

Lainey thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and is looking forward to continuing playing Rugby League next season with a view to representing our region again. As well as making life-long friends, some of the highlights of the weekend were getting to meet Captain of the Jillaroos, Stephanie Hancock, and having an ex State of Origin star (Petero Civoniceva – whose daughter was also part of the Sunshine Coast team), take them for their warm up drills on two of the days.

Wendy Stott