The season for the Under 16 Reef Raiders kicked off on Friday night against the Innisfail Vikings at West Barlow Park.

With numbers low for both teams it seemed that the game would be won on who could control the ball best. The Raiders started of well retaining possession for the first 10 minutes but couldn't break the Vikings' line.

But with more ball and field position it was Brady McFarlene who eventually crashed over the line for the first try of the year.
 
For the next five minutes the Raiders were making inroads and plenty of ground to see Brady over again while Brendan Nastasi converted both tries. This put a 14 point lead on the board for the Raiders, and it seemed that the boys were going to start running away with it.

But a quick tap to the Vikings saw them catch the Raiders napping and score. The try made it 14-7 and soon the Raiders knew it wasn't going to be an easy win.

The second half started the same way but this time it was the Vikings camping in the Raiders' 22. Only silly errors and some committed defence from the Raiders saw the Vikings stay at 7 points.

The raiders in the last 10 minutes had their chances to put on some points but dropped ball and silly errors cost them. The game got called up early due to a season ending injury to forward Jaggar Ablett, who was in strong all game even though he is only 14.

The players that stood out were Aiden Alberts, Brady McFarlene and fullback Vincent.

The Under 16s are looking for more players so anyone interested is welcome to come to training at the Mossman Showgrounds on Tuesday and Thursday at 5pm.