By Gary Stocks

Bill Duckworth was accustomed to occupying the spotlight in an amazing coaching tenure with the O’Rourke Realty A-Grade team which netted him and his playing group 10 senior premierships.

Tomorrow he and his charges will again fly the flag for North Beach and will be hoping to continue a winning trend.

In his second incarnation as a coach at the Beach, Duckworth is in charge of the Cabling Network Solutions D1-Grade and with the senior teams having a bye this week, the club focus will be on the lower grades.

And they deserve plenty of attention.

The thirds, fourths and fifths sit atop their respective ladders while the Brett Jones Colts are entrenched in third position.

The A-Grade teams all have a bye this week while the West Coast Eagles State under-23s and Colts teams tackle South Australia at Kingsway Reserve. The senior game, which will have three North Beach representatives, will start at 6pm.

But Duckworth’s team – boasting a number of players who tasted A-Grade success with their revered mentor, will tackle Mt Lawley at Hamer Park and obviously would appreciate some vocal Beach fans making the sojourn into enemy territory.

The D1-Grade has not lost a game in the first six rounds and with the likes of Mitch and Scott Holbrook, Chris Perkin and Ben Heap playing in the team they are providing a terrific education for the emerging batch of youngsters, who are aiming to play senior football at the club.

Daniel Wheeler, similarly, has the D1-Reserves sitting atop the ladder undefeated and with players of the calibre of Jon Turner, Byron Boys and Michael Bramley running around, the benefits are clear for the club’s developing talent.

The depth of the club’s colts list is evident with the Brett Jones Colts sitting in third position and players from that team are consistently pushing up to apply pressure on those players in the Coast to Coast Imports Phil Scott line-up.

The one game to be played on local turf will be the Express Bins E2-Grade, who will play Noranda at Charles Riley Reserves. Take the opportunity to pop down, offer your support to Kane Kuenen and his charges and take a peek at the progress of the exciting new facility that is making stunning advances by the week.

Round 7 Fixtures
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Cabling Network Solutions D1-Grade
Mt Lawley v North Beach, Hamer Park, 2.30pm
Hybrid Linings D1-Reserves
Mt Lawley v North Beach, Hamer Park, 12.35pm
Brett Jones Colts
Mt Lawley v North Beach, Hamer Park, 10.40am
Express Bins E2-Grade
North Beach v Noranda, Charles Riley Reserve, 2.30pm