Luggers claim victory in first Broome fixture

Broome Luggers Rugby Club played their first competitive fixture last Saturday against Kununurra Eagles, and recorded a momentous 22-18 victory at Male Oval.

The club, who have been training for both rugby league and rugby union fixtures, was set up in September last year.

The game against the more experienced Kununurra side was an end-to-end, frenetic encounter, which drew a sizeable local crowd.

The Luggers started in the worst possible fashion, with Kununurra half-back James Kenney crossing to score in the first couple of minutes.

However, the hosts rallied and after a period of possession in opposition territory, Matt Corpus crossed to score the club’s first ever try.

Broome moved into the lead soon after, with good hands in the midfield allowing flying winger Ancliff Enosa to race home from halfway.

Kununurra came out of the blocks strongly in the second half, and got the first points on the board through a well-worked try by Adam Guest.

With the scores tightly poised, a dominant ten minutes by the Luggers saw them chalk up two more tries to seal the result.

Joce Manolis crossed in the corner after strong running from ball carriers Kess Marstella, Nick De Bruin and Kaine Frunks.

With the Luggers looking to seal the game, a cross-field kick on the fifth tackle fell to winger Wa Tene, who touched down to the delight of the crowd.

Kununurra crossed for a consolation try through Ty McRea, however the Luggers defended admirably to hold onto a 22-18 victory.

Luggers coach Matt Beattie praised his players after the win. “The game was played in great spirit and it was a really hard battle,” he said.

“However, I am very proud of the Broome players, who gelled well despite it being our first game and showed extreme bravery in defence.” Luggers president Tui Savu hoped the game will be the first of many in Broome.

“It was a historic victory as it was the first rugby game in Broome, and we are very happy with the turnout of supporters,” he said.

“We will now look to ramp up our fixture list and there will hopefully be lots more games in the near future.”