From The Sideline - Round 13- Ballina vs Bangalow & Mullumbimby

Despite the fact that Australia is meant to be ‘living with Covid” last weeks home fixtures against Bangalow and Mullumbimby were postponed due to reported Covid cases in both visiting teams. The matches will hopefully be played at a later date. (Ladies Day and this Round of games have been scheduled for 20th August 2022 ) My personal opinion is that an unworkable precedent has been set.
From what I can ascertain the draw has Division 1 playing Lismore away on 30th July (after 5 weeks off) followed by Byron and Lennox away and Bangalow at home on 20th August. Division 2 are away this Saturday at Evans Head followed by two byes then Lennox away and Mullumbimby at home. To alleviate the backlog of fixtures the zone has been burdened with the onerous task of twice rescheduling the finals series , and has announced that all finals matches will be played at club grounds under a tender process. I apologise for any confusion the above may have caused and hope the information is correct.
Last Saturday I ventured to Williams Reserve and watched an intense and entertaining Division II match between Lennox and Range result in a 20-20 scoreline, and in first division the Trojans outpaced and outmuscled Byron winning 52-17.
The performance of the referee Louis Trisley impressed greatly. In his first season in the senior referee’s ranks the 18yo Byron Bay HSC student has caught the eye of far better judges than I, and he was recently awarded the honour of controlling the Caldwell Cup final at country week at Tamworth. His work with the Acme Thunderer in hand was decisive and unobtrusive, contributing to a free flowing spectacle for the large crowd at hand.
The All Blacks lost yet again to their bogey team Ireland, and ‘traitor’ (Life ban Shawrie) Eddie and his team never looked under real threat winning 21-17 in the Ella-Mobbs decider at the SCG.
My optimism suggests that the tide will turn, the stars will align, miraculous rails runs will appear and we’ll be cheering both teams home on grand final day! Your support will be invaluable.

Far North Coast referees Louis Trisley (centre) and Richard Goswell(right) prior to 2022 Caldwell Cup final