Magpies and Bears square off in important match up

The Bears have lost their past four games and will be looking to put a halt to some worrying form of late – they haven’t won since Round 7 where they beat the Central Queensland Capras 44-28.

Wynnum Manly Seagulls were too strong for the Bears in last weekend’s postponed Round 10 match at Pinklands Sports Complex, beating them 38-6.

It took the Bears 33 minutes to register a point; and by then, the Seagulls had run in for two tries.

It was the second half that brought most of the pain for the Bears, with the Seagulls only leading 10-6 half-time. At that stage, the Bears were still in the game, but five second half tries put an end to that.

For the Bears, Iszac Fa’asuamaleaui put in a strong effort, making 35 tackles, while Isaac Matalavea-Booth made 169 metres in attack.

The Bears were just off their mark in defence, missing 35 tackles.

Bears coach Jamie Mahon however said he was positive about moving on from the Wynnum Manly game.

“At half-time it was close, and we thought we had done a lot of things well,” Mahon said.

“The second half was a different story and Wynnum were too good.

“Our goal this week against the Magpies will be two good halves.

“That’s an experience thing too, with young guys to keep going and understand their role for 80 minutes.”

Last weekend, the Magpies were at home to Townsville Blackhawks, but weren’t able to make that advantage count, going down 36-18.

The black and whites could only get 41 per cent of possession and that told in the final result.

However, there were some strong performers, including Cruise Ten who carried the defensive workload with 39 tackles and Konrad Tu’ua who took the ball up to the Townsville side with plenty of enthusiasm with 151 metres.

Souths coach Lincoln McLeod said the side would take a simple approach to their football this week.

“We didn’t have enough ball and you get that 41 per cent up by completing sets,” McLeod said.

“The Blackhawks were very good.

“This week our focus continues to be running hard and tackling hard and that’s how you end up smiling at the end and win games.

“If you are a little bit off you get beaten 36-18.”

Following another solid performance for his team, McLeod praised the contribution of Ten.

“Cruise Ten is just a great footballer, he gets targeted every week and they try and stop his off-loads, but he still makes metres and still gets away ball.

“Great player and great person at our club.”

Elsewhere in the competition, there will be six other great match-ups during Crazy Sock Round supporting the Men of League Foundation.

The Ipswich Jets were honourable in defeat against Redcliffe Dolphins in their last game, but unfortunately for the Jets and coach Chris Ash, honour doesn’t get you two points and the Jets remain without a win for the season.

Lochlan Turnbull was again excellent in defence for Ipswich however with 29 tackles while Kayliss Barrott made 138 metres.

The Jets had two double try scorers in Nathan Stephensen and Barrott, so they know how to score points, but just need to combine their effort with execution and a win won’t be too far away.

Their opposition this weekend Townsville Blackhawks are sitting in third spot and coming off a commanding 36-18 win over Souths Logan.

The Blackhawks scored early in the first minute and from there it was a parade of tries, ending with seven overall by full-time.

Tyson Chase ran and ran for 223 metres and Zac Laybutt made two line breaks.

The Tweed Seagulls are on 14 points alongside three other teams and can’t afford to slip up here against Central Queensland Capras.

Tweed have won two games in a row and are bringing good form to the end of the season.

Last weekend, the Seagulls won the battle against the Sunshine Coast Falcons 42-28.

The game was even, but the Seagulls just took their chances when they presented to them and scored eight tries to five.

Harradyn Wilson scored a double and the halfback was commanding his flock around the field with aplomb, while James Torrens had two line breaks and a try for his efforts.

The Capras had another high scoring game against the Tigers, exploding out to the blocks.

Five first-half tries will win you plenty of football games and a 28-10 lead set up Central Queensland beautifully for a 46-26 win.

Mitchell Leard-Lamont nearly ran the same distance as his name with 191m and Samuel Strohfeldt made 42 tackles, topping the Capras tackle count for the second week in a row.

Norths Devils are coming from a strange 32-32 draw with the Cutters. It was a low scoring first half, with the Cutters leading 14-6, but after that, it exploded with tries; eight in the second half to produce the high scoring draw.

The Devils will be looking to take their first half defence and their second half attack into the game against the Tigers who were on the wrong end of a 46-26 score against the Capras.

Jack Garrod brought the Cutters to ground 40 times, making a great impact with his defence and Zac Brooks kept attacking scoring a try in the second half.

However, second rower Shaquille McLeod was able to cross for two tries in a good individual performance.

Northern Pride kept the attack flowing in their 32-22 win against Western Mustangs in Toowoomba.

They had to work hard however and were forced to comeback from 16-6 down at half-time.

To with the match, the Pride enjoyed a gluttony of possession and finished the game with six second half tries. Robert Derby made 161 metres and Matti Moyle will be looking to bring his defence again after making 26 tackles last weekend.

Their opponents the Sunshine Coast Falcons will be seeking to right their September-bound ship after a 42-28 loss to Tweed. It was 24-0 at half-time and to the Sunshine Coast’s credit it could have turned ugly, but they fought back and got 28 second half points.

Kaleb Sutton was strong for the Falcons and made 214 metres that his side desperately needed after a less than ideal start.

Redcliffe Dolphins did what they had to do against Ipswich and were able to hold them out when the Jets came back at them in the second half to record a 34-18 win.

Dolphins centre Harrison McIndoe is causing teams all sorts of problems and ran for 217 metres, including going over for a try.

Redcliffe will need to bring some of that fight to this week against a Mackay Cutters side that had a draw with Norths and just couldn’t ice the win.

Mackay had 53 per cent of the ball, but let the Devils back into the game when they could have put an end to the whole thing.

They were leading 14-6 and scored the first three tries, but let the dominance slip, so will be looking to improve on that this weekend.

Flynn Camilleri was outstanding for the Cutters with 171m.

Mustangs fought hard against the Pride, but in a weekend of attack and high scoring, they couldn’t stop the Pride from storming home.

This weekend, they face a tough challenge against Wynnum Manly Seagulls who remain at the top of the competition ladder.

With 43 per cent of the ball last weekend, the Mustangs scored four tries and that will please them, but the 56 tackle breaks made against them won’t make them happy.

Having to make 66 more tackles would tire anyone and the Mustangs will need to control when they give the ball back to the other team and where they give it back at the end of sets.

Wynnum Manly are sitting at the top of the table for a very good reason, they don’t lose too many games.

In fact, they have only lost one this year and this week against the Mustangs they will be looking to fine tune their finals engine.

Last weekend against the Bears, it was another performance that the side consistently produce, resulting in their 38-6 win which will no doubt send a chilling warning to everyone else in the competition.

Ben Farr made 191 metres and made a line break with one try, while Germaine Bulsey scored three tries in a Hastings Deering ‘Heavy lifter’ performance.

QRL Judiciary Results - Round 10 Hastings Deering Colts