Round 12 of the Intrust Super Cup played over the weekend under the annual Rivalry round banner with games between traditional and developing rivalries spread from Cairns in the north to Tweed in the south.
The top teams all scored vital victories in their chase of the Blackhawks at the top, whilst lower ladder teams on a good recent run of form got a reality check. It was also a good round for the away teams as 5 of the 6 winners were on the road.
In all there were six games on offer, and we offer a taster of the action below. Mini highlight packages are also worth a look for a quick catch up from the QRL website www.qrl.com.au.
Here’s how they stand after 12 rounds – four teams still left to have their bye.
LADDER: Townsville Blackhawks 20 (+272), Ipswich Jets 20 (+122), Wynnum Manly Seagulls 18 (+124), PNG Hunters 18 (+56), Mackay Cutters 16 (+62), Easts Tigers 14 (+141), Tweet Heads Seagulls 12 (+14), Northern Pride 12 (-7), Burleigh Bears 12 (-93), Redcliffe Dolphins 10 (+1), Souths Logan Magpies 8 (-91), Sunshine Coast Falcons 8 (-156), Norths Devils 6 (-233), Central Queensland Capras 4 (-212).
IPSWICH JETS 50 def SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 20 @ Jack O’Chin Oval, Cherbourg (H/T 30-8)
Rivalry round kicked off in an unfamiliar place for a Souths Logan home game as they and Ipswich headed 3 hours north to Cherbourg to give the local fans a taste of some high quality rugby league.
There was plenty of quality on show as the Jets, also playing in unfamiliar surroundings in their gold coloured outfit, put on their usual display of attacking rugby league with try scoring possibilities from anywhere on the field. All the usual suspects scored for the Jets including another three for Marmin Barba (16 tries in 11 games this season) as they drew level with the Blackhawks on points at the top of the ladder.
Despite the final score, the first part of the game was a see-sawing affair with the teams trading two tries each early. However once the Jets scored their third, fourth, fifth and sixth tries to lead 30-8 at half time it looked like only the greatest of comebacks would stop Ipswich from a fifth straight win.
Souths Logan scored first in the second half giving the Magpies a small hope of a third straight win, but Ipswich scored four of the next five to help themselves to 10 tries in total, and two points. The Jets fly up to PNG for a mouth-watering clash of two great attacking teams in form. Souths Logan also find themselves on an island as they take another home game away to Stradbroke Island against Wynnum.
The Broncos have an affiliation with both these sides and they placed Ash Taylor’s future learning in the hands of Souths Logan recently, and they could do worse than call on a few of the Jets backline at a pinch for NRL duty should the need arise. Either that or they will be snapped up by some smart rival NRL shoppers.
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 36 def CENTRAL CAPRAS 24 @ Browne Park (H/T 30-14)
Ben Hampton showed the Sunshine Coast Falcons what they missed last week against the Tigers as he was the stand out player in the vital lower ladder battle between the Falcons and Central Capras, both sides looking for a win to avoid this season’s wooden spoon.
Both sides were coming off comprehensive losses the previous weekend, and it was the Sunshine Coast who bounced back best from those setbacks. Central scored the first try of the day just as they did against Redcliffe last weekend, but unfortunately similarly to last weekend the joy was short lived in their attempt to win their first game since Round One.
The Capras do have something to go forward with for next week as they won the second half 10-6 after the Falcons led comfortably 30-14 at the break, and they fought to the end where only a late runaway try to the Falcons put the game beyond doubt.
Central will head down to Burleigh to take advantage of the fallout of a big loss to local rivals Tweed Heads, whilst the Falcons will fancy their chances at home to Redcliffe.
EASTS TIGERS 50 def NORTHS DEVILS 6 @ Bishop Park (H/T 34-0)
Easts Tigers once again showed their ruthless side as they mercilessly tore through the Norths Devils at Bishop Park with a 10 tries to 1 victory featuring four tries to Matt Duffie including a first half hat trick.
Scoring first half points quicker than 1 a minute, it looked like it could be any score for the Tigers, but they will be happy with the 50-6 end result and another two points which leaves them in touch with the top five and the competition’s second best for an against.
A better and more thorough match report can be found courtesy of Matt Crowhurst excellent review at http://www.qrl.com.au/news/2015/06/01/duffie_s_four_try_ha.html
Both teams reward is a week off as they both enjoy a bye in Round 13.
MACKAY CUTTERS 12 def NORTHERN PRIDE 10 @ Barlow Park (H/T 6-4)
Northern Pride got a taste of their own medicine in Round 12 as their visitors Mackay scored in the last minutes to snatch a vital victory for Mackay who were trying to avoid a third straight loss and remain in the top five. The lowest scoring game of the rivalry round was also the closest with only two points separating the teams in a tight tussle in the north.
The visiting Cutters scored first after 12 minutes and just 6 minutes later the home side replied with a 50m intercept try to trail by 6-4 at the half time break after a half full of errors for both sides.
The Pride were first to score in the second half in the 51st minute, and it looked as though the 10-6 lead might just be enough as they held onto that for all but two of the remaining minutes. But a win it wasn’t to be for the Northern Pride as Mackay scored with two minutes to go and kicked the challenging conversion.
Mackay will need that momentum into next round as they look to avenge their first round loss to the Blackhawks, whilst the Pride stay in Cairns and welcome the Tweed Head Seagulls for the competition’s second longest road trip.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 22 def REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 12 @ Dolphin Oval (H/T 14-0)
The Battle of the Bayside looked like yet another quality clash between Redcliffe and Wynnum with the home side’s recent turnaround in form making them a different prospect to play for the third placed Seagulls.
After cheering on a big bag of points in their 68-16 win over Central last weekend, the Redcliffe fans had very little to cheer about in the first 40 minutes as the visiting Seagulls scored two tries and a penalty to lead 14-0 at the halftime break.
Redcliffe needed to score first in the second half to be any chance of extending their winning run to four games, and they did just that in the 48th minute. However over exuberance in an attempt to take a quick 20m tap ended in another Wynnum try and gave the Seagulls an advantage they weren’t to lose. Another try to Redcliffe gave the home fans some hope with 10 minutes to go, but Wynnum had another reply in them and bounced back from last week’s heartbreaker in the best possible way.
Wynnum get another away game closer to their home base than their opponents next round with the TV Game against Souths Logan at Stradbroke Island, whilst Redcliffe travel to the Sunshine Coast with both sides getting to their last chance of finals football.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 50 def BURLEIGH BEARS 4 @ Piggabeen (H/T 30-0)
The Gold Coast rivalry was decided in no uncertain terms on the weekend as the Seagulls thrashed the Burleigh Bears 50-4 on Sunday afternoon.
Given the end score line the first part of the game was relatively tight with only the one try to Tweed in the 7th minute troubling the scorers in the first 20 minutes. However the flood gates opened with Tweed’s second try as they went on to score four tries in 10 minutes and added another before half time to lead 30-0.
If the Bears thought they would be in for an easier time they were to be disappointed as the Seagulls scored the next two after the break to lead 40-0. Burleigh eventually got on the board for their only try of the match halfway through the second half, after which Tweed racked up their fifty with two more tries.
Tweed go all the way to Cairns to take on the Pride next round, whilst Burleigh welcome fellow strugglers Central.
Round 12 in detail.
IPSWICH JETS 50 (Marmin Barba 3, Brandon McGrady 2, Josh Cleeland 2, Carlin Anderson, Chris Walker, Billy McConnachie tries; Marmin Barba 3, Carlin Anderson 2 goals) def SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 20 (Josh Damen, Samisoni Vaioleti, Dallas Anderson, Herschel Gideon tries; Scott Doyle 2 goals) at Jack O’Chin Oval, Cherbourg.
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 36 (Travis Robinson, Callum Klein, Jake Turpin, Rueben Baillie, Ben Hampton, Jye Ballinger tries; Ryan Hansen 3, David Oakes 2, Jacob Samoa goals) def CQ CAPRAS 24 (Hayden Buckman 2, Jake Ainsworth, Dan Randall, Gerard Tema tries; Ian Webster 2 goals) at Browne Park.
EASTS TIGERS 50 (Matt Duffie 4, Michael Kai 2, Richie Kennar, Eddie Tautali, Jake Foster, Foisa Peni tries; Shaun Nona 5 goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 6 (Liam Tyson try; Liam Tyson goal) at Bishop Park.
MACKAY CUTTERS 12 (Jordan Pereira 2 tries; Liam Taylor 2 goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 10 (Luke George, Jason Roos tries; Javid Bowen goal) at Barlow Park.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 22 (Patrick Templeton 2, Daniel Ogden, Matthew Seamark tries; Matthew Seamark 3 goals) def REDCLIFFE 12 (Luke Capewell, Charlie Faingaa tries; Luke Capewell 2 goals) at Dolphin Oval.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 50 (Shaun Carney 2, Ricardo Parata 2, Blake Anderson 2, Nathanael Barnes, Davin Crampton, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Matt Robinson tries; Jamal Fogarty 3, Blake Anderson 2 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 4 (Khan Ahwang try) at Piggabeen Sports.
