Blake, you aren't wrong about hard ground being a problem. The best and safest fire spot here was this spot, and it was like concrete. I really had to choose my sticks well, and even then they didn't go in as good as I liked, so I added the optional weight. It was just an odd sized rock that I used to pound the sticks in with, leaning against the pegs to keep them together and hold there with some sort of stability.
It was a good day out - I was pretty sore from my hike in D'Aguilar NP but as soon as I saw the project I knew I had to get out and try and redeem myself from the dodgy pics the day before.
I hid the set in the bush and will reuse them whenever I pass through.