TRY machines Billy Stefaniuk and captain/coach Tye Ingebrigtsen led the carnage with five and four tries respectively as Hervey Bay clinched their maiden Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership minor title with a 110-0 penultimate round white-wash of whipping boys Waves Tigers in front of their adoring home fans at Stafford Park last Saturday night.
A one-point victory would have been enough to secure No. 1 position and against just 14 men, the Seagulls were always going to have a field day, but they celebrated in style after having taken the outright lead on the ladder when they demolished Past Brothers, who had been top of the pops since early in the season, six days earlier.
In the matches which followed at Salter Oval last Sunday, two-times defending champions Wests Panthers, who had defeated Brothers a fortnight earlier, suffered their second straight surprise and costly loss, this time going down to Easts Magpies, who had ended their 14-game losing streak at their previous outing, with in the process Wests being joined in equal-third place on 24 points by bye team Wallaroos.
Isis Devils' top three hopes then vanished when they were over-run by a lacklustre Past Brothers 32-24.
Wing sensation Stefaniuk and centre Ingebrigtsen were white-hot, while fullback Alex Braun and Steven Brudzinski, on the other wing, also joined in the party with doubles, along with interchange ace Clancy Fallon.
Other try scorers included another of their lethal backs Terry Horne, who came off the bench in his return from a long injury lay-off.
The Seagulls will now have two weeks off as they have the bye this Saturday, and as minor premiers, they will not play again until the major semi-final on August 30.
Wests were ambushed by their cross-town rivals, who belied their season from hell and showed great spirit, establishing a 16-6 half-time lead and going right on with the job after the Panthers had a try disallowed early in the second stanza.
Former Queensland junior representative second rower Ross Larson was the star, turning it on with a three-try heavyweight all-round performance.
Panthers young gun second rower Tyson Whaleboat was again among their best including with a double, but they were beaten by a better and hungrier team on the day.
The fifth placed Devils, who have been big under-achievers in 2015 after being beaten grand finalists last September, are on 22 points and have a negative differential of 14, and cannot finish higher than fourth even if they win, but they will be determined to regain form and confidence before a sudden-death finals campaign.
If Wests lose, Roos will steal third from them if they are able to beat the in-form Easts in the preceding game.
Last Sunday, Isis were again without their Queensland Rangers powerhouse Jake Thompson, and while they showed some fight, they blew a golden opportunity against Past Brothers who were again without a couple of trumps due to injury, suspension and work commitments.
Coming off two losses, Brothers welcomed back four of their stars in hooker Brent Kuskey, fullback Jake Carl, centre Corey Chapman and second rower Daniel Finter, and while they were much better than in their previous two outings, there were still plenty of chinks in their armour.
They led 16-8 at oranges, but Kuskey was sin-binned in the 48th minute, and the Devils struck with three tries in his absence to lead by eight points.
But Kuskey returned to rescue the sinking ship, although it took a barge-over try from Tongan wrecking ball Vahiti Hopoi and an exquisitely placed Carl chip kick for under-18 winger Hayden Golchert to ground the ball in the corner and reclaim a two-point lead for the blue and whites with 14 minutes to go.
The result hung in the balance until team veteran lock Bryce Holdsworth sliced through for his second try with three minutes remaining and Carl kicked truly.
Past Brothers should have little more than a training run against Waves at noon tomorrow before waiting to see who they will play in the qualifying final.
Hervey Bay 110 (Billy Stefaniuk 5, Tye Ingebrigtsen 4, Alex Braun 2, Steven Brudzinski 2, Clancy Fallon 2, Tyson Woodman, William Elemani, Brad Jung, Terry Horne, Amos Pelite tries; Clinton Horne 13, Anthony Lindeberg, Jung goals) d Waves Tigers 0.
Easts 34 (Ross Larson 3, Nicholas Tanner, Rhys Neil, Mark Fraser tries; Baidon Cooper 5 goals) d Wests 16 (Tyson Whaleboat 2, Trent Seeds tries; Bevan Page 2 goals).
Past Brothers 32 (Bryce Holdsworth 2, Chris Rose, Corey Chapman, Hayden Golchert, Vahiti Hopoi tries; Jake Carl 4 goals) d Isis 24 (Zac Dann, Taylar Barritt, Alusa Nasio, Aaron Ratcliffe, Robert O'Donnell tries; Robert O'Donnell 2 goals).
