After seven straight victories, the Norths Devils have finally shown their mortality as the PNG Hunters flexed their premiership muscle at Bishop Park.
Fifteen minutes into the affair, it was the Norths Devils who sat firmly in the driver’s seat, racing out to a commanding 12-nil lead.
As always however, the Hunters’ prolific outside backs shone bright with Solo Wane and Alex Max barging over to level the scores at twelve-a-piece.
Tries from Jacob Gagan and Jamie Mavoko would bring the scores to 18 all with fifteen minutes left.
Following a disappointing set from the Hunters, a wayward pass from the Devils in possession would provide the Hunters with another chance at glory.
A sloppy play the ball would result in Sanny Wabo having the ball in hand metres out from the try line, and the competition’s leading try scorer would once again show why he’s so dangerous.
From a standing start Wabo bounced off his right foot, charging at the try line and bouldering over, securing the match-winning points.
Rubbing salt into the wound for the Devils’, their arch nemesis the Redcliffe Dolphins mounted a comeback victory of their own at Totally Workwear Stadium against the Brisbane Tigers.
Coming off an impressive victory the weekend prior, the Brisbane Tigers entered this match hoping to find consistency in their play.
Early signs were encouraging for the Tigers, with Tahj Wood asserting himself on the match in it’s opening stages, throwing a wild dummy which split the defence in two as he crossed over untouched.
Entering the second half with a commanding 20-12 lead, the Tigers would take their foot off the accelerator conceding two unanswered tries which saw them trailing by two points.
With five minutes left, Mitchell Spencer crossed over directly in front of the Tigers faithful.
With the Tigers’ having seemingly secured an impressive victory, Redcliffe continued to march downfield undeterred.
A cross-field kick from halfback Joshua James would serve as the Dolphins’ final roll of the dice.
The perfectly placed kick would see Tigers winger Kane Bradley leap and drop the ball, which rolled towards the sideline away from Tigers’ defenders, allowing Ethan Quai-Ward to ground the loose ball and secure his Dolphins’ side a brilliant 28-24 victory.
Unlike Hunters’ and Dolphins’ fans, supporters of the Wynnum Manly Seagulls were able to watch their team secure a win without fears of suffering a heart attack.
Tries from Ben Farr and Delouise Hoeter would propel the Seagulls out to 10-nil lead early, as a Brenton Baira double and Semi Valemei try would allow the Cutters' to claw back momentum leaving the first half down 14-16.
The second half was one way traffic in favour of Wynnum, as the home team prevailed 34-14 in a physical match featuring plenty of big hits.
Despite a dominant start, the Sunshine Coast Falcons were unable to secure a win at home, falling 14-24 to their avian counterparts, the Tweed Seagulls.
Early tries from Zion Johnson and Taine Couper saw the Falcons leading 14-4 at the end of the first half, before Lindon McGrady and Sam Stephenson of the Seagulls nullified the Falcons lead.
A second try from Sam Stephenson and a late crossing for Jacob Alick-Weincke would see the Seagulls kick on, as the match finished in favour of the Tweed Seagulls who now sit one place ahead of the Falcons on the ladder in ninth position.
The Northern Pride’s gut-wrenching season continued in Barlow Park last weekend, falling in the dying minutes of the match to the Burleigh Bears 18-16.
In a unique turn of events, scores were nil all at the end of the first half, with the Northern Pride scoring three unanswered tries within the opening 20 minutes of the second half.
Despite the Pride owning a 16-nil lead with twenty minutes left, the Bears never surrendered, answering back with a slick backline move which saw Lachlan West cross untouched.
A cheeky short side shift would see Troy Leo reduce the deficit to one try.
With the match on the line, Kurt De Luis would receive the ball close to the line – initiating contact with three defenders before spinning out of their grasp and scoring directly under the post, winning the game for Burleigh.
In the highest scoring match of the round, the Ipswich Jets defeated the Central Queensland Capras by twenty points at Webb Park in Yeppoon.
The Jets’ blitzed the Central Queenslanders in the opening fifteen minutes, notching up a 16-nil lead inside fifteen minutes.
From there on in, the Capras would be unable to mount sufficient scoreboard pressure on the Jets, as frustrations compounded in a heated match.
Jets’ hooker Oliver Pascoe stood out as the game’s best player, securing a double in addition to his 120 run metres and 35 tackles with none missed.
It was an important win for the Jets who seemed to have bounced back from their big loss to the Northern Pride a fortnight ago, as the men from Ipswich sit comfortably in sixth on equal points with the 3rd placed PNG Hunters.
Despite the prevailing trend of Round 9 being comebacks, the Souths Logan Magpies fell just short of achieving a herculean feat, as they were unable to clawback a 28-4 deficit against the Townsville Blackhawks at Davies Park.
The Blackhawks first half scoring spree was brought on in part through Kaiden Lahrs’ impressive work through the middle, with Jack Campagnolo’s commanding presence at five-eighth also steering Townsville toward points.
As a lull descended over the Magpies’ home ground, the in-form utility Callum Eggerling scurried and scored from dummy-half to reignite Davies Park.
Latrell Siegwalt was the next Magpie to cross, with Ben Te Kura finding the white line not long after, as the Magpies reduced the 24-point deficit to a single converted try.
In the Magpie’s final set, Floyd Aubrey would cross in the corner – leaving it all up to Latrell Siegwalt to add the two points to even the score.
Unfortunately for the home-crowd, Siegwalt’s conversion attempt would be pulled wide, as the Townsville Blackhawks did just enough to hold on for victory, winning 28-26.
ROUND 9 RESULTS
SATURDAY MAY 17
Wynnum Manly Seagulls 34 def Mackay Cutters 14 at BMD Kougari Oval, Brisbane
Redcliffe Dolphins 28 def Brisbane Tigers 24 at Totally Workwear Stadium, Brisbane
Tweed Seagulls 24 def Sunshine Coast Falcons 14 at Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast
Burleigh Bears 18 def Northern Pride 16 at Barlow Park, Cairns
Ipswich Jets 40 def Central Queensland Capras 20 at Webb Park, Yeppoon
SUNDAY 18 MAY
Townsville Blackhawks 28 def Souths Logan Magpies 26 at Davies Park, Brisbane
PNG Hunters 24 def Norths Devils 18 at Bishop Park, Brisbane
