NRL player Todd Lowrie has done the trick for the Australian Catholic University side who recorded their first victory of the Universities Rugby League Queensland season last night.
Lowrie, who is out injured for the Broncos, took over the coaching of ACU in the mid-year break.
The club only returned to the URLQ competition this season after a long hiatus, and had struggled with results.
But with some recruiting and Lowrie’s guidance, they broke their duck with a spirited 34-22 win over the Gold Coast Griffith Panthers at Banyo.
ACU led for the entire match with elusive fullback Khaleel Waqar scoring two tries in an effort that pleased their coach, who won an NRL grand final with the Storm in 2012.
At Nathan, the Logan Redbacks sounded an ominous warning as they outclassed the Dragons 44-6 in a battle of two Griffith University teams.
The win moved the Redbacks to just a point behind the Dragons with two matches left before the finals.
It was also handy news for the Queensland University of Technology boys, who grafted out an 18-8 win over the University of Queensland.
The Trouts’ victory moved them to the outright lead in the competition, after they had to come from 8-6 down at halftime against the Hounds.
RESULTS – URLQ ROUND 8
ACU 34 (Khaleel Waqar 2, Ryan Smith 2, David Kneen, Luke Skilington, Zac Stone tries; Khaleel Waqar 3 goals) def Gold Coast Griffith Panthers 22 (Sonny Sekoa 2, Bjorn Collins, Lorenzo Filimaua tries; Lorenzo Filimaua 3 goals) at Banyo.
Griffith Logan Redbacks 44 (Ben Ioane, James Fuli, Dwayne Urquhart, Alexander Terry, Shaun Urquhart, Tyrone Girle, Javann Ratu-Daniel, Mofata Afoa tries; Javann Ratu-Daniel 5, Andrew Taukolo goals) def Griffith Dragons 6 (Emmanuel Kiddie try; Jesse Domic goal) at Griffith Nathan Campus.
QUT Trouts 18 (Jonny Dore, Ty Buckmeister, Luke Kent tries; Brendan Baker 3 goals) def UQ Hounds 8 (Chris Hanson, Keegan Parker tries) at University of Qld.
LADDER: QUT Trouts 21, Griffith Dragons 20, Griffith Logan Redbacks 19, UQ Hounds 14, Griffith GC Panthers 10, ACU 10.
