Sport

10 June, 2026

Teenage standout for Tigers

A TEENAGE standout stole the spotlight at the Allan Reis and Cain Banu Memorial game on 6 June, with Jaiden Mothe producing a stunning three-try performance that helped power Tully’s under-19s to a commanding win over Mareeba, all before he was meant to run out in A-grade.

By Maria Girgenti

The annual memorial event at Tully Showgrounds delivered a full day of rugby league action across three senior grades, raising funds for the Tully Hospital Friends of the Foundation and drawing strong community support.

The day opened with an entertaining masters match featuring former Tully favourites, Jamie Zonta, Adrian Durighello and Joseph Anderson. The home side proved too strong, running away with a 48-12 victory.

Mareeba showed grit in the under-19s despite having no bench, but Tully came out firing with five converted tries in the first half to lead 30-10 at the break. The Tigers maintained their dominance in the second stanza, adding four more tries to seal a comprehensive 52-14 win.

Mothe’s hat-trick earned him man of the match honours, with Tyrell Forbes, Mitchell Davis, Cooper McAllister (two), Case Durighello and Nicholas Muriata also crossing the line. Tama Wilson was near-perfect with the boot, landing eight from nine.

Despite Mareeba again having no interchange players, Tully’s reserve grade side couldn’t capitalise, falling 24-16. Try scorers for Tully were Thomas Banu, Clint Blennerhassett and Maya Tusa, with Jonathon Lavell adding two goals. Coach Ed Long said the side needed to “go back to training and work hard on our mindset and attitude” to stay competitive in the run to finals.

The A-grade clash was a tight affair, with the sides locked at 12-12 before Tully edged ahead by two at halftime. Scores were again level at 20-20 in the second half, but a late converted try to Mareeba secured the visitors a six-point win. Tully’s tries came from Cohen Emmi, Abraham Waireg-Ingui, Matthew Gibuma and Diega Teaukura, with Phil Nona kicking two goals.

Following each match, members of the Reis and Banu families presented man of the match trophies to Tully players: Diega Teaukura (A-grade), Jonathon Lavell (reserve grade) and Jaiden Mothe (under-19s).

FNQRL Round 10 fixtures June 6 - 7

A-grade

• Mareeba 26 def Tully 20

• Innisfail 54 def Yarrabah 4

• Cairns Brothers 54 def Mossman-Port Douglas 24

• Ivanhoe Knights 32 def Atherton 0

• Kangaroos 38 def Southern Suburbs 16.

• FNQRL ladder round 10: Cairns Brothers 18, Atherton 15, Innisfail 14, Mareeba 13, Kangaroos 10, Ivanhoe Knights 10, Southern Suburbs 6, Tully 6, Yarrabah 4 and Mossman-Port Douglas 0.

Reserve grade

• Mareeba 24 def Tully 16

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• Innisfail 28 def Yarrabah 18

• Mossman-Port Douglas 38 def Cairns Brothers 10

• Atherton 50 def Ivanhoe Knights 18

• Kangaroos 36 def Southern Suburbs 16.

Under-19

• Tully 52 def Mareeba 14

• Yarrabah 36 def Innisfail 18

• Atherton 24 vs Ivanhoe Knights 8

• Kangaroos 40 def Southern Suburbs 16

• Byes: Cairns Brothers.

Women’s

• Innisfail 38 def Yarrabah 20

• Ivanhoe Maidens 22 def Atherton 14

• Kangaroos 32 def Southern Suburbs 14

• Bye: Mossman-Port Douglas.

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