Mossman Sharks, featuring two Cooktown junior rugby league players, celebrate a glorious victory at the Far North Queensland Rugby League junior and youth grand final. Photo: Mossman Junior Rugby League Facebook.
It may have taken hours on the road for months and 15,000 kilometres on the odometer, but two Cooktown junior rugby league players are celebrating an enormous victory at the Far North Queensland Rugby League junior and youth grand final clash.
Cooktown teen players Max Giese and Maia Pensio hit the road to join the Mossman Sharks under-14 team when they could no longer get a game at home due to numbers, spending every weekend in the car for the past two school terms to join game days leading up to the final showdown on 5 September.
The enormous undertaking truly paid off when the Mossman Sharks defeated Edmonton Storm 46-6 — an unprecedented win, as the Edmonton team had remained undefeated all season.
Mum Kim Giese, who made the commitment to travel for the second year in a row, said it was worth it to see her son continue with a game he loved and invested his time into.
“Once they get to under-13s, it’s tackle, and the numbers just aren’t here in Cooktown. Our boys were still so keen, and they had that fight and hunger for competitive football,” she said.
“It was a huge effort to do it, and I think to come away with that win on grand final day was just incredible.
“The atmosphere was just absolutely electric, and the support behind the whole Mossman team was amazing.”
Ms Giese said the season also required major self-motivation from the boys themselves, who had to train at home and fight for their spot in the game each week.
“The hard thing was that they had a team of 25 kids, and you can only take 20 on a team, so you really had to earn your spot each week, and it was a massive commitment for us to show the coach that we’re committed,” she said.
“Max would go up to the coach and go, ‘What can I work on during the week?’, and he and Maia would do their own thing up here, and they were lucky to also join the league tag training through the Cooktown Crocs to keep up with their ball skills.
“Mossman had boys from Mareeba, Mossman, Yarrabah and Cooktown on the team, so they never trained together, and they just got better and better throughout the whole year.”
She said that donning the Sharks uniform had been an invaluable experience for the boys on their rugby league journey.
“It was really an eye-opener; they’re little fish in a big pond down there. They’re great players, but you get down there, and there’s even better players,” she said.
“The experience of playing in that kind of league was really beneficial for them, and it was a real growth opportunity for them to be where they need to be.”
Max Giese and Maia Pensio finish the season as champions. Photo: Supplied.
