Two Highlands teams travelled up to Young recently for the annual Young Masters Rugby League tournament.

Bowral and Moss Vale both had teams competing and enjoyed plenty of success over the two days.

Twenty-one teams took part in the tournament.

As well as playing a few games across the two days, City and Country teams were selected for a representative match played on the Sunday morning.

This year it was City that took home the bragging rights.

Bowral’s Peter Howard said it was a great weekend and the team played well, winning its first two games.

On Saturday Bowral faced a Barbarian team and ACT Valley Dragons. They had a few injuries on the Sunday morning and were beaten by Queanbeyan Blues.

Howard said Daniel Ismail, Chris Shea, Andrew Murdoch, Ian Disher and Ian Ford played well over the weekend.

It was the third year Bowral had played in the Young tournament and had played a few games during the year in the lead up.

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Howard said they hoped to play a few more games next year.

Players qualify for Masters from 35 years of age and while Bowral has had the same core group of players for the past few years, Howard said the team continued to grow they always welcomed new players.

He said the oldest player at the Young tournament was a man from Illawarra in his mid 70s.

“The games are pathways for older blokes to keep on going,” he said.

It was the the sixth year Moss Vale had attended the tournament.

Moss Vale’s Grant Russell said it was “a great experience again” playing four games throughout the tournament.

“It’s a chance for the older guys to enjoy the game a bit longer,” he said.

“It’s all about having a laugh and a drink with old football mates and keeping the camaraderie going.”

Russell said the team would once again compete at the National Masters next year which it had also been to for the past several years.

He said the core of the team was a group that had played together since the 1980s and with an average age group of about 50, “we hold our own”.

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