THREE Myall River Hawks JRLFC players plied their trade at the annual Illawarra Titans Kids In Care Cup held over the weekend near Wollongong, taking out a Grand Final win.

Fresh off their recent Grand Final win in the local rugby league competition, Hawks U13s players Kyzaiah Simms, Alex Saunders and Jaiv Murphy played among hundreds of others from all over the state at the Illawarra tournament which raises awareness of Aboriginal children in out of home care.

The Hawks Juniors excelled once again, winning their round-robin games and competition Grand Final.

Their first time at the tournament, the boys played for the Mindaribba Warriors in a total of four 40 minute games – one of which ended early due to the ‘Mercy Rule’ (points reached 50-plus).

Being a ‘knockout’ round-robin scenario, there is no ‘extra time’ in the Grand Final, so when the score ended at 20-20, the victory went to Mindaribba for scoring the first try.

Following the win, the Mindaribba coach cited all three Myall River boys as standouts in his post-match speech.

Alex Saunders’ competition highlight was a try scored straight off a scrum near his team’s backline, running most of the field to ground the ball.

Jaiv continued his excellent defensive work, stopping a string of plays by the other teams, and was mentioned as a critical part of each victory.

Kyzaiah Simms was awarded Player of the Tournament for the U13s, after he scored two tries in one game, and proved nearly impossible for the opposition to bring to the ground.

Kyzaiah, Jaiv and Alex were also selected to attend NSW Rugby League’s RISE program earlier in the year, wherein all three became qualified referees, and from next season will be able to assist their club and community by refereeing games in their age-group or under.

It was a very long weekend for the boys and their families, braving the buffeting of the colder southern winds, however, based on their performances, they should be in with a good chance to be chosen for the Koori Knockout, to be held over the October long weekend in Bathurst.

The Kids In Care Cup was established a decade ago to raise awareness of the need for foster carers in NSW, in particular Indigenous foster carers for Aboriginal kids, and does this primarily by bringing together children and adults through playing rugby league.

By Thomas O’KEEFE