EASTS TIGERS 56 CENTRAL CAPRAS (H/T 24-6)
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 23 SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 10 (H/T 16-0)
NORTHERN PRIDE 42 NORTHS DEVILS 10 (H/T 14-10)
BURLEIGH BEARS 28 IPSWICH JETS 18 (H/T IPSW 16-6)
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 40 REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 10 (H/T 22-4)
PNG HUNTERS 26 MACKAY CUTTERS 24 (H/T 20-6)
TWEED SEAGULLS 24 SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 0 (H/T 20-0)
Round 7 of the Intrust Super Cup was completed on Sunday, with some big one sided wins, plenty of tries and a couple of upsets to keep things interesting.
Two teams on a run of 5 wins in a row had their streaks stopped, and they lost equal leadership of the competition at the same time. The sole leader is now the Townsville Blackhawks, who look untouchable at the moment.
For bite-sized highlights from all the games, head to the QRL website http://www.qrl.com.au/intrust-super-cup.html
The weekend started off with the most one-sided game of the round as Easts made it three in a row, and a second straight 50 point win at home with an aggregate of 108-6. Their 11 tries weren’t the first, as Central scored first to give outgoing coach Jason Hetherington and the Central squad a glimmer of hope of an upset.
It wasn’t to be however as the quality attack and defence of the Easts Tigers was far too much for the Capras to handle, and they were unable to stop the Tigers scoring as they pleased. Central can bounce back with new Interim coach Lionel Harbin against Tweed at home next weekend. Easts meanwhile conveniently moved into second to set up a top of the table clash in Townsville next weekend.
Not too far away in Thornlands the Sunshine Coast hosted the Wynnum Seagulls in a game closer to their opponents than the home side. Unlike when Souths Logan did the same against Central earlier in the year, the side geographically more at home took the win.
Sunshine Coast were hoping for three in a row, and with the usual helping of Melbourne Storm contracted players had every reason to be confident. They were unable to reach that mark as Wynnum produced a clinical display to lead 16-0 at half time, and keep the game within their control to the final score of 23-10. Sunshine Coast did get to 22-10 during the second half, but the Seagulls had plenty in reserve to see them off.
Wynnum host Norths in Round 8, whilst Sunshine Coast can have the weekend off with a bye.
Cairns hosted the clash of the two Norths sides, and it was the home team who conclusively proved that their slump to begin 2015 is over with an 8 tries to 2 win over their Brisbane based rivals on a wet Saturday night.
Norths two tries came early in the game and they led 10-4 after 17 minutes to give hope for the Norths fans to turn around a run of four consecutive losses. Their hope was short lived as the Pride scored twice before half time to take a small 14-10 lead to the break. The Pride took it up a notch in the second half with 5 tries to none and record a second straight win.
They’ll be hoping to make it three at home to a struggling Souths Logan next weekend. Norths. Meanwhile, get the unenviable task of breaking their run of losses away to Wynnum.
Channel 9 got plenty of entertainment out of their TV fixtures on Sunday afternoon, with the Burleigh Bears upsetting the Ipswich Jets with great attacking football from both sides.
It was a see-sawing encounter which saw the eventual losers Ipswich leading 16-6 on the back of some enterprising play like the short grubber kickoff from the start of the game to a length of the field intercept try to speedster Marmin Barba. But with weight of possession and some costly Ipswich errors Burleigh got themselves in front by the 70th minute 22-18 through some of their own quality attack. The game could have gone either way but the last score of the game went to the away side who got within a win of their opponents and moved up to sixth place on the ladder. They welcome to PNG Hunters in a test of their Top 5 credentials.
Ipswich have now won just 2/4 at home so a trip to Redcliffe may be the tonic for another win. Worth noting is Marmin Barba’s 37th try in 29 games, and he may play himself into a position to replace fellow Jet Daniel Vidot on the Broncos wing in the near future.
Things went from bad to worse at Dolphin Oval for the home side as they crashed to their 7th straight home defeat, and a big one at that against an in-form competition leading Blackhawks.
The only thing in Redcliffe’s favour on Sunday was the goal kicking of the Townsville side, as 7 missed conversions hid some of the severity of the defeat. The half time deficit of 22-4 was reduced to 22-10 with 22 minutes to go gave the home fans some flicker of hope of breaking the awful home record, but the Townsville side are leading the competition for a reason, and just had too much of everything for the Dolphins.
Redcliffe, given their home form, would probably like to play anywhere but Redcliffe next week, but they host Ipswich who’ll be smarting over their recent loss. Townsville have their top of the table clash against Easts to show that their premiership hopes are the real deal for 2015.
The PNG Hunters returned home after two losses in a row on the road and they returned to the winners circle by beating no less a side than the Mackay Cutters and ending their opponents run of five straight wins.
The Hunters looked comfortable at stages and were the first to score and also led at half time (20-6), keeping their fanatical support happy. A late surge from Mackay got them close to the Hunters at 26-24 with 7 minutes to go, but the home side had just enough to hold onto for a vital victory, 2 points, and to stay close to the Final 5 action after dropping out with consecutive losses.
They travel again next round to beat Burleigh, whilst Mackay have no need to travel at all with a bye.
The final game of the weekend was the Tweed v Souths Logan just over the border at Piggabeen. Tweed Heads got themselves back on track with a comfortable win over the Magpies.
The Magpies are now officially struggling with 4 straight losses, and some big score lines against. The aggregate of their last four rounds comes to 40-160, which equates to score just one point for every 4 scored against. Similarly to last weekend against Townsville they can take heart that the end score was only 24-0 after a 20-0 half time lead, but a reversal will be needed soon as they slide down the ladder.
Tweed Heads themselves did well to keep Souths Logan to nil as they lost 3 players to injury from this game from in the first half. They’ll need them back as they take on the Capras side in Rockhampton next weekend, Souths Logan meanwhile head even further north to take on the pride.
This all leaves Townsville as sole leader of the Intrust Super Cup with 6 wins from 7, with a band of four teams behind them on 10 points and one less win. In a pretty tight bunch behind the leaders there’s another 3 teams on 8 points. The 6 remaining sides are all on 4 points in a mixture of a poor start and flattering byes, and are running out of time to be taken seriously for September football.
ROUND 7 DETAILS
EASTS TIGERS 56 (Richie Kennar 2, Matt Duffie 2, Grant Giess 2, Eddie Tautali, Shane Neumann, Donald Malone, Christian Welch, Matthew Zgrajewski tries; Donald Malone 6 goals) def CQ CAPRAS 6 (Garrett Field try; Ian Webster goal) at Tapout Energy Stadium, Langlands Park.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 23 (Daniel Ogden, Mitchell Buckett, Greg Eden, Brendon Gibb tries; Matthew Seamark 3 goals; Matthew Seamark field goal) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 10 (Travis Robinson, Johnny Vuetibau tries; Travis Robinson goal) at Pinklands Sporting Complex, Thornlands.
NORTHERN PRIDE 42 (Javid Bowen 3, Linc Port, Semi Tadulala, Sam Obst, Jack Svendsen, David Murphy tries; Hezron Murgha 4, Cameron King goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 10 (Luke Pollock, Brett Greinke tries; Luke Pollock goal) at Barlow Park.
BURLEIGH BEARS 28 (Brad Tighe, Connor Broadhurst, Mark Ioane, Jason Chan, Darren Griffiths tries; Tyler Chadburn 4 goals) def IPSWICH JETS 18 (Marmin Barba 2, Carlin Anderson tries; Marmin Barba 2, Carlin Anderson goals) at North Ipswich Reserve.
TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 40 (Zac Santo 2, Jonathon Reuben 2, Jahrome Hughes, Mosese Pangai, Michael Parker-Walshe, Ray Thompson, Anthony Mitchell tries; Robert Lui, Jonathon Reuben goals) def REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 10 (Kyle van Klaveren, Luke Capewell tries; Luke Capewell goal) at Dolphin Oval.
PNG HUNTERS 26 Israel Eliab 2, Thompson Teteh, Wartovo Puara, Kato Ottio; Noel Zeming 3 goals def MACKAY CUTTERS 24 Josh Chudleigh 2, Sam Clune, Liam Taylor; Liam Taylor 4 goals.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 24 (James Wood, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Ricardo Parata, Damian Sironen, Jai Ingram tries; Blake Anderson 2 goals) def SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 0 at Piggabeen Sports.
