The outright lead in the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership will be up for grabs when unbeaten duo Wests Panthers and Past Brothers square off in a Round 3 blockbuster at Salter Oval at 6pm Saturday.
The Panthers tamed fellow heavyweights Waves Tigers 18-14 first-up before putting 2022 champions Hervey Bay to the sword 70-8 at their home fortress at Stafford Park, with Seagulls facing a tough season after being decimated by the loss of their coach Jacob Blanke to Easts Magpies and a string of their big guns to other clubs.
Brothers had inflicted a similar 62-4 drubbing of the Bay in the season opener, before a remarkably similar 62-8 demolition of back-to-back wooden spooners Wallaroos.
Long serving Wests coach Corey Tanner is naturally delighted with their flying start, but knows they will have to improve further if they are to stop the Brothers juggernaut.
They will need to maintain the rage week-in-week-out for the rest of the year, instead of the late season fade-outs of recent campaigns, if they are to end their premiership drought.
“Our best players so far have been (18-year-old) fullback Connor Yeats and halfback Laish Salam (former Central Capras under 21), but I have been very impressed with our whole forward pack. They have laid the foundation for our first two wins,” Tanner said.
“Dan Tanner and Ilaiasi Pongi will be out this week and we still have Shaun Ezzy and Zander Kerr suspended, but both haven’t played yet this season. “
But he still believes they can win.
“Brothers and ATW are definitely the benchmark but if we can stick to our game plan it will go a long way for us to knock off Brothers on Saturday,” he said.
Brothers have toyed with their two rivals so far, with Prodigal Son and former dual BRL A Grade Player of the Year Matthew Craven already chalking up 50 points with four tries – including a hat-trick against Roos – and 17 conversions, but they will need to be at their best against the hot Panthers and coach Andrew Hamilton does not have to remind his players about the task at hand.
Meanwhile, the Magpies get the perfect chance to bounce back from their last-start 30-18 defeat at the hands of the Tigers when they take on the Seagulls in the earlier game on the program at 4.15pm.
It will pit Blanke against the club he took from rags to riches for the first time, with also Scott and William Walthall, Ben Hudson, who was a dual try scorer against Waves, and Tyson Miller up against their former beloved club.
There will certainly be plenty of motivation for the Seagulls, but man for man, the Magpies could have too many guns.
Finally, Wallaroos get the chance to open their account in their first home match of the season against Waves at 5pm at Eskdale Park.
But they will need to produce something special against the Tigers, who are close to full strength and will take a power of beating.
Main image: Five-eighth Mitchell Taylor makes a break for Past Brothers against Hervey Bay Seagulls
