BULLDOGS TOO STRONG FOR CUTTERS
CENTRALS Trinity Beach have gone two games clear in second spot on the AFL Cairns table as South Cairns’ next generation showed they will be the answer to the Cutters’ early-season woes.
Buoyed by the inclusion of reigning Crathern Medallist Damien Roe, the Dogs kicked five goals to two in the final term to overrun a persistent Cutters side on Saturday afternoon at home.
The 22-point defeat was a drastic improvement for the Cutters from their flogging the Bulldogs handed them in Round 4, with a number of new faces breathing life into their 2017 campaign.
The Cutters’ hierarchy have decided youth is the way the club will remain contenders this season and have injected plenty of dash with debutant Levi Norsworthy a standout, while youngsters Safua Nomoa and Karl Petri showed positive signs.
“We looked at our squad after the first eight or nine rounds and realised we need some leg speed,” Cutters playing coach Cameron Campbell said. “We do not have a lot of speed around the ground and adding Levi was a huge addition to that.
“That is our next generation coming through and we need to get games into them.”
While Roe was not at his dominant 2016 form in his return, he was the cherry on top of the Dogs’ talented midfield of Hugh Nicholson, Jackson Williams, Tim Mcauley and Jayden Holt.
The Bulldogs relied heavily on Roe’s brilliance last year and now he can just slot in and play his role among the quality group of on-ballers.
Last-term goals to Roe, Nicholson, Williams’ fifth and Aaron Robins sealed the ’Dogs win over the Cutters in 2017.
Dogs coach Mick Seymour was proud of the way his side ran out the game.
“They are a quality side and will be one of the contenders come the finals,” Seymour said.
“It was anyone’s game at three-quarter time and our players stood up in the final term.”
The Cutters now head to Port Douglas to take on the undefeated Crocs, with Campbell confident they are now headed in the right direction.
“I thought we took a few big steps forward against Trinity Beach,” Campbell said. “The boys that performed are going to keep getting picked.
“We are bitterly disappointed not to win but it was a step in the right direction. We will go to Port Douglas now with some confidence. There is no point just beating the bottom few teams, we need to be beating the teams around us.”