By melbournestorm.com.au and QRL Media
The Sunshine Coast Falcons returned from their trip north with a smile, defeating Northern Pride 22-10 in Round 3 of the Intrust Super Cup.
The visitors were on the board early with winger Sam Wright opening the scoring in the sixth minute of the match played at Barlow Park in Cairns.
The Pride hit back soon after with Luke George capitalising on a Khan Ahwang break, but the Falcons ensured a 10-4 lead at the halftime break when right wing Matthew Soper-Lawler nine minutes for the teams hit the sheds.
The Falcons were then able to overrun their opposition during the middle part of the game in the warm conditions.
The pleasing sight for Storm fans was the standout performances of two new recruits, hooker Brandon Smith and five-eighth Jahrome Hughes.
“They were fantastic, they fitted in really well with our group and we’re really happy they are on board with us,” Falcons coach Craig Ingebrigtsen said.
“They’ve bought into what we are all about.
“Smithy’s aggression and his enthusiasm lifted the whole group.
“He came on and basically lifted the tempo of the game, which helped us dramatically and he took the game away from the opposition.
“Jahrome is a very classy player, he is very composed and his skill was exceptional for us.”
Joe Stimson also kicked three goals on the day to help Sunshine Coast to victory.
The Falcons head on the road again this week, travelling to Ipswich on Saturday to take on the Jets.
The Northern Pride are also on the road and will travel to the home of the Easts Tigers for the Channel 9 (QLD) TV match.
See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game via QRL Live
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 22 (Samuel Wright, Matthew Soper-Lawler, Lachlan Timm, Alex Bishop tries; Joe Stimson 3 goals) def NORTHERN PRIDE 10 (Luke George, Colin Wilkie tries; Khan Ahwang goal) at Barlow Park.
*This first appeared on the Melbourne Storm website
