Cairns Brothers flexed their muscles in their 2015 David McCoy Homes Cairns Key Real Estate CDRL A Grade Round 3 clash at Mareeba Gladiators on Saturday night, sealing a resounding 56-20 win at Davies Park.
Brothers went into the game having lost a wet-weather arm-wrestle at Ivanhoes in Round 1, before having a bye in the second round, and may have looked nervously at a difficult trip to the Tablelands.
But there were few signs of rustiness as Brothers showed superior fitness and finishing to run out comfortable winners in a 10-try display.
Brothers coach Chey Bird praised his side’s resilience, and highlighted a team effort in getting the job done against David Grainer’s Gladiators.
“We knew they’d be tough early on, but we also knew if we limited their time with the ball, then we could capitalise towards the end of each half, and that’s how it played out in the end,” said Bird.
“Everyone was great across the board and it’s hard to single anyone out, but Brosky Emery-Hunia (two tries) and George Morseau deserve particular mention for strong efforts.
“After what happened at Ivanhoes in our first game, it’s just pleasing to get back into the winner’s circle.
“It’s a bit frustrating we’ve now got the Easter weekend off, as we’d have liked to have kept the momentum going.
“But we’ll now start to focus on our trip to Mossman in the next round – they’re a good football side with a couple of good wins already, so it’ll be tough.”
Mossman-Port Douglas backed up their surprise win at Innisfail last time out with another impressive victory, this time 24-22 in a thriller against early-season front-runners Ivanhoes at Mossman Showgrounds.
George Toby, Lyle Murgha, Mark Dau and Karl Zammataro scored the tries, with the Knights matching the hosts’ try-scoring efforts, but failing to land all conversions which would have tied up the scores.
Young Cairns Kangaroos star Patrick Lewis was named the LD Total Cairns Player of the Round for his scintillating four-try performance in Roos’ memorable 40-12 win over Tully Tigers at Vico Oval.
The Tigers were no match for the Northern Pride Under 20s fullback, who helped end the visitors’ 100 per cent record with his try-scoring feat.
Edmonton Storm sit alone at the top of the ladder after they made it three wins out of three at Atherton.
Storm interchange Aaron Coghill was the star of the show, crossing for a hat-trick of tries, while Budmasi Gibuma, Eddie Daniel, Steve Quakawoot and Vincent Lane also chipped in with four-pointers.
Innisfail recovered from their shock home defeat against Mossman-Port Douglas last week with a 52-4 thrashing of winless Yarrabah at Jilara Oval.
Southern Suburbs had a bye.
2015 DAVID MCCOY HOMES CAIRNS KEY REAL ESTATE A GRADE - ROUND 2 RESULTS:
SATURDAY 28 MARCH
Cairns Brothers 56 (Emery-Hunia 2, Nona, Parmenter, Swain, Morseau, Bon, Cockburn, Gil, Kelly tries; Doolah 8 goals) def Mareeba Gladiators 20 (King, Williams, Cokanasiga, Aue tries; Aue 2 goals) at Davies Park, Mareeba.
Mossman-Port Douglas Sharks 24 (Toby, L. Murgha, Dau, Zammataro tries; Cobb 4 goals) def Ivanhoe Knights 22 (Barnard, J. Verney, Pye, B. Reed tries; Pye 3 goals) at Mossman Showgrounds.
Edmonton Storm 36 (Coghill 3, Gibuma, Daniel, Quakawoot, Lane tries; Ambrym 4 goals) def Atherton Roosters 12 (van Leeuwen, Sala tries; Grant 2 goals) at Roosters Stadium, Atherton.
SUNDAY 22 MARCH
Cairns Kangaroos 40 (Lewis 4, Mene, Peason, Tabuai, Gibas tries; Pau 4 goals) def Tully Tigers 12 (Hughes, Laumea tries; Jolley 2 goals) at Vico Oval, Cairns.
Innisfail Leprechauns 52 def Yarrabah Seahawks 4 at Jilara Oval, Yarrabah.
Southern Suburbs – bye.
