Burdekin coach praises rival team after brave 14- 10 rally Tigers in finals form
BURDEKIN coach Cameron Miller has backed Centrals to make a run to the finals after they produced a gutsy 14- 10 comeback win in Ayr on Saturday night.
The Roosters led 8- 0 at halftime, but despite an injury toll that saw them finish the game with two on the bench, the Tigers rallied after the break.
Burdekin is part of a top four that has put a big gap on ST George Illawarra have been saved from embarrassment after coming from behind to break lowly Newcastle’s hearts 32- 28 yesterday afternoon.
The Dragons were booed from the field by their own fans at UOW Jubilee Oval as they went into halftime down 28- 10.
However the Red V faithful were singing in the stands by fulltime after a gutsy comeback orchestrated by Gareth Widdop.
A loss would have put Paul McGregor’s side on the brink of falling out of the top eight but they ran in four unanswered tries in the second 40 minutes to snap a two- game losing streak.
They began their fightback when Widdop – who finished the game with four try assists – grubbered for Joel Thompson to score six minutes after the resumption. When Josh Dugan ran from dummy half and trampled three Knights defenders to score, they were back within six points with 27 minutes still on the clock.
When Widdop threw a beautiful cut- out pass to send Jason Nightingale over for his third of the afternoon before booting the extras from the sideline, they were back on level pegging.
They regained the lead when Kurt Mann ran a smart line off a Widdop pass in the 67th minute for a valuable yet unconvincing win.
The home side lost prop Paul Vaughan in the third minute to a suspected torn right calf; however, it failed to diminish their fast start.
The Dragons were woeful, making basic errors such as letting the ball bounce for Brendan Elliot’s 35th minute try and Hame Sele dropping it cold before allowing Ross to race 80m to score. They turned it around with Widdop and their NSW State of Origin contingent of Tyson Frizell and Dugan leading the way. the rest of the Townsville District Rugby League competition, but sixth- placed Centrals reminded everyone why they made last year’s grand final.
Halfback James Redman scored the winner with about 15 minutes to go.
Centrals’ fourth victory in 11 games this year saw them leapfrog Charters Towers into the top five.
“I thought we were very dominant in the first half, but at the same time Centrals were gutsy, and they kept coming at us,” Miller said.
“Defensively they were better than us and didn’t give up.
“The top four have broken away, but Centrals deserve a lot more respect than they’re getting at the moment.
“We’re forgetting that last year they were grand finalists and I think they’ll make a run from here on in; I have no doubt they will.
“For us to be the best we need to be consistently best week in, week out, and we’re not doing it at the moment.”
Centrals coach Matthew Green praised his team’s grit and they now looked destined to battle Charters Towers for the fifth and last spot up for grabs in the finals.
“We finished with two on the bench and were a few troops down with a couple of blokes playing for Queensland DALY Cherry- Evans pushed his case for a Queensland State of Origin recall as he shot Manly into the NRL’s top four with a 35- 18 flogging of Cronulla yesterday.
Cherry- Evans set up three tries and kicked a field goal in the win, to continue his career- best form at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
His only blemish came when he threw an intercept ball for Cronulla’s Luke Lewis late in the first half, who ran 80m to score and threaten a typical Sharks comeback.
But after the Sharks scored again through Sosaia Feki, Cherry- Evans stood up, slotting over a field goal on Rangers and 12 unavailable through injury,” Green said.
“It was a pretty gutsy win, considering.
“I think we’re a pretty good chance of scraping into the top five. We get ourselves right and get a few blokes back, and if we get in, anything can happen from there.”
In other matches, top- ofthe- table Brothers showed no mercy against bottom side Norths in a 92- 10 belting at Jack Manski Oval on Friday night.
In Sunday’s fixtures Herbert River thrashed University 84- 12, while Western Lions came from behind to beat Charters Towers 42- 24. the halftime siren. Cronulla also suffered a blow when hooker Jayden Brailey was hospitalised with a possible broken jaw midway through the second half.
Queensland Origin winger Valentine Holmes also appeared to battle a hip injury early but regained his fitness later in the match.
Largely forgotten in the Maroons’ selection race to replace the injured Johnathan Thurston, Cherry- Evans’ performance must now surely put him in the race for at least a bench spot.
He targeted NSW five- eighth James Maloney in defence, regularly directing traffic at him as he missed five tackles.
It was evident when he put secondrower Curtis Sironen in to score in the second set of the match, after the Sharks five- eighth rushed out of the line. He repeated the dose with an inside flick ball for Sironen to score his second in the first half. However, the second- rower left the field with a possible pectoral injury.
Cherry- Evans had his third assist with a spiralling two- man cut- out pass for winger Matthew Wright to score and put the match beyond doubt.
Both Tom and Jake Trbojevic were also dominant for the Sea Eagles with hands in tries, while Martin Taupau ran 224m up front.