MOUNT Isa Rugby League champions Wanderers are on the right track to winning back-to-back premierships with the unveiling of new signing Brenton Stonier.
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The experienced hooker, who originally hails from the Sunshine Coast, boasts a fantastic resumé having previously played for the Melbourne Storm alongside the likes of Greg Inglis, matched up against former Sharks player Todd Carney, and even shared a room with former Australian Wallaby Berrick Barnes.
The day that the Queensland Cup player knew he was moving to the North West was a rare moment where Stonier required some advice from his mates.
This season presents a new challenge for the 28-year-old hooker, who is extremely keen to create a lasting impression on the 2014 minor premiers.
“I’ve got a couple of years up here and I want to put some real value into this team,” Stonier said.
“I don’t want to throw time away and leave in two to five years and not have made an impact.”
The former Sunshine Coast Falcons player, who lives on a three-acre property, made the move to Mount Isa due to his wife Marissa recently becoming a paramedic in town.
“We’re really happy. We didn’t really look at Mount Isa as an option, but since we’ve been here it’s been good.”
“Marissa’s loving it up here and I’m loving the area. We miss the family in Brisbane and the Sunny Coast but we will work something out. We want to be here for at least a couple of years.”
“We’ve been really lucky. We found a place that has suited us straight away. We could have the horse and we bought a dog, cat, and a bird.
Stonier has only been training for five weeks but got through last week’s pre-season trial win against Cloncurry unscathed.
“It was pretty full-on. I hadn’t done much since we’re moved.”
This year the Mount Isa Rugby League Association welcomes back Brothers football club as the sixth team in the competition.
MIRL president Shaun Wilde is excited at the new team addition but also with the new playing surface at Alec Inch Oval.
“The main thing in the off-season really was the oval,” Wilde said.
“We had to get it up to good standards so people could play on it.”
“We have always said we just want everyone to play football. They (Brothers) put up a proposal to re-join the competition and with the information they supplied, we accepted their application.”
