Local Touch players win national titles
Ballina Touch players Tony Webb, Ken Jones, Hank Hickling and Ross Knox have achieved a dream — being part of national champion teams.
Webb, who has played the game since it kicked off in Ballina in the mid-1970s, and Hickling were members of the Northern Eagles Over-45s team which won the Australian National Touch League title at Coffs Harbour.
Jones managed and played for the Over-50s team which made the national final, losing 3-1 to Sydney Scorpions.
The team also included Ballina’s Ross Knox, a player well-known to local football fans — Ross was still playing first grade rugby league well into his 40s.
The Over-45s beat Sydney Scorpions 4-3, ACT 11-1, Hornets 11-0, Gold Coast 4-2, Queensland Rustlers 4-1 and Southern Suns 7-3 in the lead-up rounds.
Northern Eagles beat North Queensland Rustlers 5-1 in the semi-final, then beat Southern Sons 1-0 in a closely-fought final.
The Over-50s team drew 3-all with North Queensland Cyclones, beat Rustlers 5-1 and Sydney Mets 4-1, lost 4-3 to Sydney Scorpions, beat ACT 8-1 and drew 4-all with Sydney Hornets.
They turned the tables on Sydney Scorpions in the semi-final, winning 5-3. They lost the final 3-1 to Brisbane Cobras.
Webb said the results were great for Ballina Touch.
Three years ago he was in a Northern Eagles team which narrowly lost a national final, and in this year’s final, with the score locked 0-all, the players feared that another finals defeat might eventuate.
These fears were compounded by a decision to disallow an intercept try to Webb, but the Eagles held their nerve to score a narrow win.
Webb said that Ross Knox was a standout player for the Over-50s. “He can still run like a hare,” he said of Knox’s seemingly never-diminishing pace.
PICTURED: Tony Webb and Ross Knox.
