Logan Brothers stay undefeated

Logan Brothers have surprised many with their early form but skipper Trevor Exton believes his side can still shift up a few gears.

The club is three-from-three to start the Brisbane Rugby League season after defeating Redcliffe 40-32 at Dolphin Oval on Sunday.

But Exton reckons Logan Brothers' best footy is still to come.

“Our performance was good enough to win but there’s another few levels and a bit more polish to put on things too,” Exton said.

“We’ve got a massive upside and improvement… all these boys are young and still have a heap to learn about the game,” he said.

In a rollercoaster match, Brothers had to withstand a late surge after stunning the Dolphins early.

Remarkably, they opened with three tries before the clock had hit fifteen minutes.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, the first two from halfback Shaun Higgins and powerful centre Joseph Richard were scored before the Dolphins even got their hands on the ball.

“We were up for the game, they hadn’t lost a game this year and we knew they’d come out strong so we tried to meet fire with fire,” Exton said.

“In the second half we were doing it tough, dropping a bit of ball and giving away penalties but we did enough to get the win.”

After the early blitzkrieg, the Dolphins worked their way back into the contest, trailing 22-14 at halftime.

They looked a chance of pulling off an unlikely comeback when winger Glen Ellis snuck down a short side to reduce the margin to just two points inside the final five minutes.

However, Logan pulled out another try when they needed it with flying Wayne Kennedy sealing the victory in the corner on the siren.

At 33, Exton’s experience is crucial in a young outfit.

The former Papua New Guinea representative has a lengthy rugby league resume that includes stints with Easts Tigers and Ipswich Jets in the then Queensland Cup, as well as a few years at Sheffield Eagles in England.

In the past few seasons, Exton has plied his trade in the local Gladstone league but the desire to return to South-East Queensland became too strong.

“I knew Jason (Gainey, coach) and a lot of the boys, so it was a great opportunity to come back to my junior club,” he said.

“But I think I’ve got some of these boys by at least four or five years.

“They bag me out a bit… I was probably playing Queensland Cup when they were still in primary school.

“But they definitely keep me young and keep me going.”

Logan Brothers meet Ipswich in a top of the table clash next round after the Jets continued their impressive form, putting a half century on Carina with winger Fine Fainga scoring three tries.

Fullback Mictchell Lollback notched the other hat-trick of the round in Wynnum Manly Redland City’s 38-30 victory over West Brisbane Panthers.

ROUND 3 RESULTS

GATERS 30 (Shaun Wickham 2, Kieran Turner, Junior Crawford, Tommy Webber, Fred Tuua tries; Kieran Turner 3 goals) def VALLEYS DIEHARDS 26 (Steve Elliott, Aiona Nona, Reece Baker, Ben Holzapfel, Pat Rasmussen tries; Zach Lister 3 goals) at South Pine Sports Complex, Brendale.

IPSWICH JETS 50 (Fine Fainga 3, Pat McCullum 2, Jordan Tighe, Tu’u Maori, Haydan Lipp, Matthew Brown, George Sami tries; Haydan Lipp 4, Mitchell Tuite goals) def CARINA 10 (Dave Samson, Isaac Kaufmann tries; Brett Ferguson goal) at Redbank Plains Recreation Reserve, Moreton Ave, Redbank Plains.

LOGAN BROTHERS 40 (Joey Richards 2, Wayne Kennedy, Ihaka Watene, Shaun Higgins, Trevor Exton, Terry Kepu tries; Dylan Taikato-Simpson 3, Trent Shield 2, Ono So’Oialo goals) def REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 32 (Brett Coutts 2, Glen Ellis, Martin Hatfield, Alex Bishop, Brenden Cousins, Mitchell McMahon tries; Logan Harris, Kyle van Klaveren goals) at Dolphin Oval.

WYNNUM MANLY REDLAND CITY SEAGULLS 38 (Mitchell Lollback 3, Semisi Ahoafi 2, Matthew Smith, Chris Green tries; Chris Green 5 goals) def WEST BRISBANE PANTHERS 30 (Kyran Tanuvasa 2, Jake Dornan 2, Robbie Lane, Kristian Wanka tries; Luke Pollock 3 goals) at BMD Kougari Oval.

EASTS TIGERS 40 (Whetu Austin 2, Maeli Seve, Leon Ellia-Niukore, Billy Walters, Dwayne Craft, Sam Bielefeld tries; Brandon Downey 6 goals) def NORMANBY HOUNDS 8 (Samisoni Vaioleti, Jack Walters tries) at Purtell Park, Bardon.

LADDER

COMING UP - ROUND 4