Hopes of the Saints leave with injured tall

BRAYDE Palmer’s day finished with 12 stitches in his lip and the moment he left the ground was the same one that signalled the fall of the Carrara Saints.

The dominant ruckman was best-on-ground until the moment he went to gather a ground ball before being hit by an opposition player.

There were 10 minutes left and the sidelining of Palmer left the Saints scrambling, eventually losing 10.11 (71) to 7.8 (50) on Saturday.

“That was the point we lost momentum,” Saints coach Wayne Petterd said.

“We tried to play dryweather footy and couldn’t execute properly.

“They had some bigger bodies and their experience probably got them over the line.

“We don’t get these wet conditions very often. Even the fellas who have come from Melbourne and Tasmania, it’s like they forgot how to play wet-weather footy.

“On paper we have a good side but we are still getting to know each other. The penny will drop one day.”

BOND University suffered its biggest loss in years on Saturday, thumped 14.8 (92) to 2.5 (23) by Victoria Point at Ern Dowling Oval in the QFA Division 2 South competition.

“We spoke after the game about using it as a learning experience,” Bond coach Sam Whish-Wilson said. “We need to do better and get better so it’s a good opportunity. That is why we play sport, to work out new ways to win.”

COOLANGATTA Tweed edged out Burleigh 8.8 (56) to 5.11 (41) at Bill Godfrey Oval.

“They were too good in those conditions. They came prepared to play and we played like it was dry weather,” Burleigh coach Peter Young said.

COOMERA coach Dale Turner enjoyed the team’s first win under his watch, with the Magpies sneaking past Robina 7.9 (51) to 6.12 (48) at Scottsdale Drive.