Backyard Footy Australia

Backyard Footy's first ever feature match, saw the first League's newest rivals, the Northern Roosters and the Southern Blues head in to battle. There was much build up to the game, with Roosters captain Nigel "Butch" Bottrall and Blues skipper Rodney "Rod Dogs" Hammat talking up their sides prospects. Vicky Renshaw was named as the first ever coach of the Blues, whilst Kellie Morgan took the reins at the Roosters.

The Roosters broke early, with Robert Butterick and Jamie Spooner proving to be twin towers up forward. However the Blues defence began to tighten, with Paul Broad, Shaun Callaghan and Trevor Schultz starting to provide some rebound. Robert Jacka and Craing Thompson played out a fierce battle on the wings, and by half time scores were level.

The move of James Redden on the ball for the Blues had an instant impact, but coach Morgan was up to the task, assigning Matt Pammenter the shut down role. But the telling move was placing Xavier Luchessi in the ruck, where the Roosters were able to break away from the Blues and record a narrow victory.