Norths Tigers fullback Luke Self confident moving forward

If you are wandering through the self-help section of your best bookshop, you might find a book from Norths Tigers fullback Luke Self, who gave his team mates plenty of assistance in beating the undefeated Goodna Eagles on Saturday.

“We never thought we couldn’t beat them,” Self declared.

“The key to bringing Goodna down is not giving them the ball; they were starved of possession for 50 minutes of the game.”

Self has been at the Easts Tigers the last two years playing Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup and Hastings Deerings Colts, but since coming back to his junior club, Norths Tigers,  everything has fallen into place.

“I did the pre-season with the Jets and then footy got cancelled and I thought that’s 2020 done for me," the crafty fullback said.

“The Volunteers Cup has been great for me, playing against men and just learning those little subtle changes that are needed.

“I will definitely be a better player in 2021 because of these 10 weeks.”

Goodna v West End

The same sentiment can be shared for Goodna's loss in Round 7 of the Volunteers Cup as when the Death Star blew up in Star Wars... the impossible has been achieved.

The Eagles were rolling along with their normal level of expertise, leading 24-6 with less than 10 minutes to go until half-time, but from there, it all went wrong with Goodna losing 28-24.

Norths scored through front rower Tonga Mounga and that gave the Tigers all the momentum from there.

Mounga finished with three tries and dominated the game, making it the first time in 2020 Goodna had not scored in a half in the Volunteers Cup.

But now comes the response... will Goodna reply and will West End feel their wrath? Or have Norths done everyone a favour and shown how to bring down the giant?

West End have gained some confidence after their big win over Gatton and will be keen to cash in while there are runs on offer.

Sione Foueti showed plenty of Bulldog and scored a great try as part of their in 54-14 utterly-dominate display.

A side hurting and a side hunting; the first game of Round 8 will sort out of plenty of questions.

Souths v Gatton

Souths and Gatton were the teenagers forced to visit their aunt last weekend - they just wanted to forget it and move on.

Souths lost 36-4 to Valleys and Gatton went down to West End.

The question will be... who can put it aside and have a good weekend this weekend?

Three second half tries from Valleys destroyed Souths and at half-time, they looked solid only down by six points.

That was short lived and Souths could not hold in the second half.

Gatton were behind from the start and could not gain any momentum against the Bulldogs in their loss.

Both teams need to put last week's games in the bin and start again at 3.30pm.

Valleys v Norths

Valleys and Norths will be the opposite of Souths and Gatton.

Both teams were tremendous and will bound out of bed on Saturday and have their boots on before they take their pyjamas off.

Valleys dominated and led 20-14 at half-time, but were in control of the game winning 36-14.

Todd White was outstanding again for the Roosters.

Just like in Gulliver’s Travels when the Lilliputian brought down the giant and tied him up, Norths have beaten Goodna.

It was a huge defensive effort from the Tigers. Goodna are 100 ahead in for-and-against so they’re not easy to stop, but Norths did it and they did it with plenty of football smarts.

Round 8 fixtures

Saturday, September 19 - Herb Steinohrt Oval, Toowoomba