Courtesy of the Mackay Daily Mercury
By Luis Narvaez
Zac Walker's first Intrust Super Cup try was a memorable one.
But not for all the right reasons.
On debut, the 21-year-old Moranbah winger opened the scoring for the Absolute Enterprise Mackay Cutters but injured his ankle as he crossed the line.
"I tried to push through it but it (my ankle) wasn't going," Walker said.
"I think the try was my first touch on debut.
"I'm stoked about that."
Walker provided strong defence before succumbing to the ankle injury as the Cutters accounted for Tweed Heads Seagulls 34-18 in a brutal contest at Stadium Mackay on Saturday night.
The Seagulls were down three players early but earned the praise of coach Aaron Zimmerle.
"We suffered some severe injuries. All in legal play but it put us in a hole for the contest," he said.
Big collisions and simple errors punctuated a tentative start from both sides.
However, Cowboys-alligned player Josh Chudleigh's individual effort had the home side ahead 16-6 at the break.
"Josh must have spiders on him," coach Kim Williams said.
"They didn't want to tackle him last week and it was the same this week. He's deceptively quick and strong."
Chudleigh finished the game with a shoulder niggle that shouldn't rule him out if he's assigned next week.
The Cutters forward pack dominated from early on, laying a platform for most of the match to be played in Tweed's half.
"Our forward pack was very good," Williams said.
"I thought our front rowers did a terrific job again."
Scrambling defence - often on their goal-line - kept the Cutters ahead. Conceding two late tries was the only disappointment.
MACKAY CUTTERS 34 (Josh Chudleigh 2, Sam Clune, Zack Walker, Justin Tavae, Cameron Cullen, Tyson Martin tries; Rex Johnson 3 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 18 (Damian Sironen, Mark Offerdahl, Jai Ingram tries; Blake Anderson 3 goals) at Stadium Mackay.
Final teams
Mackay Cutters: 1. Sam Clune 2. Jordan Pereira 3. Tautau Moga 4. Zack Walker 5. Justin Tavae 6. Cameron Cullen 7. Rex Johnson 8. Sam Hoare 14. Michael Sio 20. Pulou Vaituutuu 11. Kelvin Nielsen 12. Tyson Martin 13. Chris Gesch (c) 15. Aleki Falepaini 16. Josh Chudleigh 10. Brad Lupi 18. John Asiata
Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Shaun Carney 2. Leva Li 3. James Wood (c) 4. Davin Crampton 5. Blake Anderson 6. Tom Dawney 7. Kane Elgey 8. Damian Sironen 9. Ricardo Parata 10. Mark Offerdahl 12. Jai Ingram 13. Sam Saville 14. Zac Friend 15. Dane Clarke 16. Jake Leary 17. Oliver Percy 18. Hemi Mullen