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Two Sunshine Coast senior rugby league clubs have been decimated with mounting injury tolls and are having to ask players to back up from reserve grade or be pulled out of under-18s.
Prior to the Easter break, Stanley River Wolves had 14 A-grade players out with a range of different injuries, some long-term.
Caloundra Sharks finished the weekend’s Round 4 game against Gympie with no interchange making a total of 11 players sidelined.
The growing casualty wards have piled pressure on the clubs to stay competitive in a rigorous competition.
Wolves have lost Ryley Kajewski (knee), Gareth Friedrich (MCL), Brodie Sharman (ankle), Wyatt Reynolds (foot) and Callum Klein (hamstring).
Three sets of brothers lace up for Dolphins
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“Myself and my twin brother Rowan, we were both out and our other half back Brett Doherty was out,” Klein said.
“Also our front rower Blair Howard and Scott Floss were out, (it was a) very long injury toll for round one.”
Despite the growing casualty ward, Klein said he was still surprised by the result.
“The score line isn’t what I expected,” he said.
“You know you can turn up and lose and be happy with a loss in some ways.
“I struggle to take many good things out of the first half that we put in.”
The Pirates dominated the Wolves in the opening 20 minutes, setting up a healthy half time lead.
“It’s been extremely gruelling,” his mother Rachael Hepner said.
The Mt Archer family spent nine months living in Brisbane alongside Mr Hepner as he underwent a heavy course of chemotherapy.
“That was pretty massive,” Mrs Hepner said.
Mr Hepner was then told the cancer had returned with nodules found on his lungs.
He underwent more surgery before doctors discovered late last year the cancer had spread to both his thigh bones.
“He did do two rounds of chemo, lost his hair again and was quite unwell,” Mrs Hepner said.
“In November, he completed two weeks of radiation and then this year recently we found out that it (cancer) has presented itself again.”
Footy fans and players will rejoice as senior rugby league finally makes its return to Coast fields following an 18-month wait on the sidelines. Despite best efforts, Rugby League Sunshine Coast was forced to cancel last year s senior competitions as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. While Beerwah managed to slip into a Brisbane competition and still hit the field, the rest of the clubs were left to call it a year. Having not played since August 2019, clubs will lace up to get their 2021 campaigns underway this weekend. The
DRAW The draw is out with the first round to be played solely on Saturday this week out of respect for the Maroochydore Swans, who will gather to farewell player Dale Best.
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