Past Brothers overcame a 20-0 halftime deficit to finish with a wet sail and swamp Isis Devils 36-26 in their fifth-round Bundaberg Rugby League showdown at Salter Oval on Saturday night.
Coming off their first loss of the season against Hervey Bay, Past Brothers were staring down the barrel at the break after an almost perfect first half by the Devils, for whom one of the star signings, Brothers junior product young gun Jayden Alberts had scored a try in his first match against them.
Brothers regrouped at the break and lifted to run in six tries in the second stanza including a double to quality centre Rueben Olive, although they were aided with Isis losing three of their top players to injury, including their best in the barnstorming Jake Thompson who suffered a reported broken wrist.
The win for Brothers was after the Waves Tigers, who had started the season with three straight losses, made it back-to-back wins, although they had to work hard to defeat a much-improved Easts Magpies 30-16.
Former Brothers captain/coach Mathew Templeman finally made his debut for Easts, together with Quade McGrory, a long-time Brothers “super sub” who followed him across town, and they gave the Magpies much more clout and lifted the side to lead 8-0 early on and trail just 12-8 at the break.
Easts remained very competitive throughout despite Waves in the end winning by 14 points.
Tigers captain Tien Nguyen led from the front and was among the tries, as were three of their big and potent Tongan brigade; Lopeti Ahovelo, Peni Tuakalau and Tukerekere Hiraka.
Hiraka was lauded by coach Antonio Kaufusi for his “best game” this campaign after being asked to fill in at halfback.
Waves will now get the perfect chance to make it three wins in a row when they head to Eskdale Park this weekend to do battle with cellar dwellers Maryborough Brothers.
The Wests Panthers also got back on track, outclassing a brave Maryborough Brothers 40-16 in Maryborough last Sunday.
Wests had been put to the sword by Wallaroos a week earlier, but with players returning from suspension, they were a different side and they racked up seven tries, with winger Justin Johnson cashing in with a double and ultra-consistent second rower James Prichard amassing 14 points with a try and five goals.
In the final A Grade game of the weekend, the Hervey Bay Seagulls marched on in their title defence with their 24th straight triumph, but not before having to overcome the fierce challenge of hosts Wallaroos 36-28.
The Roos threw down the gauntlet to their Fraser Coast counterparts with blockbusting front rower David Ball stamping his mark on the game with two tries, but in the end the Seagulls simply had too many guns, having six individual try scorers to the Roos’ five.
19-year-old Junior Kiwis rising superstar fullback Logona Vetemotu was the player of the match with one try and six conversions, and evergreen former Roos premiership captain Brad Jung also among the four-pointers.
Past Brothers also thrashed Isis 82-8 in Reserve Grade with fullback Chris Rose leading the charge with a hattrick of tries and halves and brothers Robert and Brendon McKeown also in the thick of things, including two tries and 11 goals amongst them.
The Past Brothers women also outgunned the Devils 16-12 with four individual try scorers.
The Seagulls were beaten by Roos 40-22 in Reserve Grade with centre Tyrone Tanner starring for the hosts with a three-try haul, but the Bay women ran hot, with five-eighth Sinnetta Broome chalking up four tries in a 36-0 white-wash of Waves.
ROUND 5 RESULTS
WAVES 30 (Tien Nguyen, Chris Ford, Lopeti Ahovelo, Peni Tuakalau, Tukerekere Hiraka tries; Arden Lankowski 5 goals) defeated EASTS 16 (Dylan Taylor, Reece Maughan, Caleb Gazzard tries; Zak Bainbridge 2 goals)
PAST BROTHERS 36 (Rueben Olive 2, Leyton Chambers, Kevin Sherriff, Boe Zimmerlie, Brendan Stewart tries; Leyton Chambers 6 goals) defeated ISIS 26 (Andrew Lamkam, Jayden Alberts, Sonny Oloapu, Tim Cole tries; Taylar Barritt 5 goals)
HERVEY BAY 36 (Logona Vetemotu, Ethan West, Damien Otto, Ron Fisher, Brad Jung, Lachlan Jackson tries; Logona Vetemotu 6 goals) defeated WALLAROOS 28 (David Ball 2, Joshua Crowley, Shaun Collins, Sam Hutchins, Jack Horder tries; Jack Horder 4 goals)
WESTS 40 (Justin Johnson 2, Tyson Douglas, James Prichard, Trent Broadhurst, Dallas Bamberry, Dennis Johnson tries; James Prichard 5, Matthew Lawton goals) defeated MARYBOROUGH BROTHERS 16 (Nick Golusin, Lyle Murgha, Joshua Ezzy tries; Lyle Murgha 2 goals)
LADDER AFTER ROUND 5: Hervey Bay 10, Pasts Brothers 8, Western Suburbs 6, Wallaroos 5, Across the Waves 4, Isis 3, Eastern Suburbs 3, Maryborough Brothers 1
For all the latest information on the 2017 4BU/93.9HitzFM BRL Competition, head to the Bundaberg Rugby League website.