Another weekend saw another win for the Burleigh Bears who remain unbeaten after the completion of Intrust Super Cup Round 5 while at the other end their Gold Coast rivals Tweed Heads remain win-less after the Townsville Blackhawks rediscovered their form at home.
In between the Bears and Seagulls is a bunch of teams separated by just two points after this weekend, with 3rd to 12th covered by just two points.
Just ahead of that big bunch is the Norths Devils who took their fourth win of the season, and continued the Hunters win-less away form. Mackay Cutters meanwhile, sit just below the bunch, stranded on one win after a loss at home to the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
Redcliffe and Souths Logan got the better of their Brisbane based duels against Easts and Wynnum respectively, and Ipswich halted the Pride’s fine run of early season form at North Ipswich Reserve.
BLACKHAWKS GET THEIR SEASON BACK OFF THE GROUND
The TV game made a rare trip out of SEQ for Saturday’s match in Townsville as the Tweed Heads Seagulls made the journey north to meet the Blackhawks who had surprisingly only registered one win in 2018.
In the end the scoreline read 38-4, with a big seven tries to one win to Townsville. Not for the first time in 2018, the Seagulls were quite competitive, but just couldn’t score when they had the ball and territory.
There were a few impressive performances on the day, Zach Docker-Clay was the TV Man of the Match, but one couldn’t help but marvel at the speed and power of Jonathon Reuben, and Carlin Anderson has plenty of both as well. So no surprise to see either on the score sheet, Reuben grabbed himself two tries. Interestingly, Brent Woolf scored for the Blackhawks, which meant he scored against his father, and for his uncle in the match which was coached by brothers on either side of the fence in a first for the Intrust Super Cup.
AJ Brimson was one worth keeping an eye on for Tweed Heads, he seemed to be involved in a lot of the good for the Seagulls, and is one they can build a side around in addition to young Man Mountain prop Moeaki Fotuakia, and some additional quality of Leilani Latu and Brendan Elliot. A win isn’t far away for the Tweed Heads Seagulls surely, their actual gameday form is better than their results indicate.
Townsville have a hard road trip next weekend to keep up their momentum, as they visit the Sunshine Coast.
HUNTERS ROAD WOES CONTINUE AT HANDS OF IMPRESSIVE DEVILS
The PNG Hunters strong form on the road was one of the main reasons they took the minor premiership that led to an eventual Intrust Super Cup Grand Final win last season, but it is not the same story in 2018.
The current Hunters side a different team to last year, a retired Stargroth Amean and injured Willie Minoga, on top of off seasons departures has slightly weakened the PNG side for the 2018 season, and the comparison of season to season results at Bishop Park underlines this. The Hunters easily defeated the Devils in Nundah in 2017, but this year they were well beaten themselves, with only a couple of late tries saving face on the scoreboard.
It’s not all about the Hunters of course, the Norths Devils have started 2018 very well, only suffering the one defeat last weekend against Wynnum at Suncorp Stadium, with the returning Sam Tagataese providing some real NRL experience, and on Saturday evening, a try. It was one of the six tries Norths scored, with the halves Troy Dargan and Todd Murphy also in the thick of the action. Timely too as the Broncos struggles continue, the NRL club’s eye might just turn to the Intrust Super Cup for some new blood.
Norths scored early through the first of Chevi Ellis’ two tries for the evening, and they were never headed for the rest of the match. The Hunters closed to 16-12 just after half time, but after that the Devils scored three tries in 12 minutes to effectively kill off the game. Two tries in the last four minutes gave some respectability to the scoreline for the visitors, but not enough for the two competition points.
Next weekend looms as a key weekend for both sides coincidentally, as Norths take on the undefeated ears in a top of the table clash, Hunters can test their away credentials even more at a tough Dolphin Oval, where they haven’t won since their first match in 2014.
CENTRAL LET ANOTHER LEAD SLIP, BEARS 100% RECORD CONTINUES
Sunday afternoon saw the Capras take on the Burleigh Bears at Marley Brown Oval in Gladstone as a curtain raiser to the Gold Coast Titans, and not for the first time this season the Capras let a lead slip and ended up on the losing side after 80 minutes.
If the Capras could have held onto their leads so far this season they would be second on the ladder at minimum, a positive for them is they are the first side to be leading in the second half over the competition’s only unbeaten side after 5 rounds.
Two short, sharp tries after half time saw the Capras in front 20-12 with half an hour to play, and hopes to be the first team to defeat Burleigh this season. But the Bears have so much quality at their disposal in 2018, and scored three more second half tries to overtake the Capras and take the eventual 28-20 win.
A shame for Central, who have started the season well, but don’t quite have the competition points to show for it.
MAGPIES SWOOP ON SEAGULLS
So far this season the Norths Devils have beaten Souths Logan, the Wynnum Seagulls have beaten the Norths Devils, and now after Sunday the Souths Logan Magpies have beaten the Wynnum Seagulls. So which team is on top? Well, Norths of course as they have four games from the first round, to the Magpies three, and Wynnum’s two. But it is an interest Broncos feeder club triangle all the same.
It was a much-needed win for the Magpies, who in the process of their 40-6 win has seen them keep their winning percentage above 50% and stay in touch with the top.
Talking of on top, the Magpies were on top for most of Sunday’s encounter, taking the lead in the 15th minute and not looking back thereafter. Wynnum’s only points coming from a converted try in the 30th minute.
In the end the Magpies crossed for seven tries to one, the real damage being done between the 50th and 66th minutes where the Magpies ran in four tries. They had led by only 16-6 at half time.
The margin helped the for and against, which means Souths Logan are sitting on top of the big bunch of teams on 6/4 points in third.
ELSEWHERE
Ipswich maintained their unbeaten home record and halted a three game winning streak for the Northern Pride with a tough 16-12 win. They had to come from behind to do it also, as they had just a penalty goal to their name before the break, in comparison to the Pride’s 2 tries and 12 points. The second half saw only Jets tries, three in fact in a 11 minutes burst from the 50th minute, Michael Purcell as ever among the scorers. A pair of conversions was enough to see Jake Clifford stay on top of the Intrust Super Cup top pointscorers ladder. Both teams now have a 3-2 record for 2018 after Intrust Super Cup Round 5.
The Sunshine Coast bounced back from a heavy defeat against the Tigers last weekend, by inflicting a similar size defeat on the Mackay Cutters in Mackay on Saturday. There wasn’t much in the first 60 minutes, with the score just 12-4, but a run of three more tries thereafter for the Falcons saw them back into the winner’s list and leave Mackay stuck on just one win so far.
A Tony Tumusa hat trick helped the Dolphins secure a 32-16 win over the Tigers on Sunday afternoon’s match at Suzuki Stadium. Redcliffe had laid on two converted tries by the 7th minute, and led 20-0 after Tumusa’s second try and a penalty, but the Tigers roared back with two quick converted tries to limit the damage to 20-10 at half time. Redcliffe themselves scored a quick double in the 52nd and 55th minute to extend the lead out to 32-10, which the Tigers reduced with a consolation try in the 76th minute.
COUNTRY WEEK VENUES ANNOUNCED
This weekend saw the venues announced for the annual Get in the Game Country week, where the Intrust Super Cup goes full regional for a weekend. Coincidental too, as the fixtures mirror this weekend’s action.
Here is the list.
Maryborough –Burleigh Bears v CQ Capras
Cooktown – Northern Pride v Ipswich Jets
Goondiwindi – Redcliffe Dolphins v Easts Tigers (TV Game)
Normanton – Souths Logan Magpies v Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Bowen – Sunshine Coast Falcons v Mackay Cutters
Hughenden – Tweed Heads Seagulls v Townsville Blackhawks
https://nothingbutleague.com/2018-intrust-super-cup/
