Trials produce thrills
Souths, Goondiwindi among weekend winners
DEFENCE HAS BEEN A REAL FOCUS OF OURS OVER THE PRE-SEASON.
LIAM CAPEWELL
RUGBY LEAGUE: Teams from the TRL Premiership had a mixed day of action on Saturday in various trials throughout the region.
Southern Suburbs started their top grade resurgence in strong fashion, travelling to the Sunshine Coast and picking up an 18-12 win over the Noosa Pirates.
Coach Liam Capewell praised the efforts of the group of players that made the trip east.
“It was a really big effort. We had 25 boys for three games and a lot of blokes played a lot of minutes,” Capewell said.
“Ben Howard almost played three full games. He kept stepping up, and it was a massive effort.
“A lot of these boys are new to the club, and showed on the weekend just how much pride they had in the jumper already.”
Leading 12-0 at half-time, the Tigers were able to extend the lead to three converted tries shortly after the break.
Most pleasing for Capewell was the way the young side was able to close out the game, and stave off the Pirates.
“A few sets of heavy legs set in, and we defended the last 20 minutes of the game,” he said.
“We held them out for a fair while, before they put a few late tries on us.
“They had the ball with three minutes to go and had us in our own half, but we were able to defend the line.
“Defence has been a real focus of ours over the pre-season, including our defensive structure around the goal-line.
“Even though we were completely fatigued, we were able to put together what we’ve been working on.”
Down in Goondiwindi, the Boars showed their new-look team is headed in the right direction, scoring a 34-10 win over a Pittsworth team that struggled with numbers on the night.
Despite the strength of their opposition, Brothers were far from disgraced when coming up against the Redcliffe Dolphins at Glenholme Park.
Last year’s BRL grand finalists came away as 28-10 winners.
Gatton hosted three grades of action, and after prevailing by 12 in the U18s and six in reserve grade, fell 22-0 to a slick Caboolture side.
Highfields took an understrength top flight team to Tugun, and were no match for the Seahawks, going down 36-4.
The Valleys Roosters hosted Brisbane Valleys, and the number of stars missing took its toll, as they went down 40-12.
Warwick hit the road to take on Ipswich Brothers minus seven starters, and were defeated 48-12.