CAIRNS Saints player-coach Brenton Powell believes Saturday was his team's best four-quarter effort of the season as they thumped the Centrals Trinity Beach Bulldogs by 140 points at Griffiths Park.
The reigning AFL Cairns premiers prevailed 29.19 (193) to 7.11 (53) after piling on 16 goals in the final two terms.
The Bulldogs only trailed by a point at quarter time, but the margin quickly ballooned when the teams changed ends and Saints began exploiting a strong breeze.
Full forward Matt Walshwas his usual reliable self and finished with nine majors, while best on ground RohanCouch provided one of the match's highlights when he rode the back of his opponent to grab a spectacular mark before converting from the left pocket in the last quarter.
Powell, who also played a significant role in the victory, was pleased at how his side ignored the scoreline and ran out the game like the result was in the balance.
"We hadn't really put four quarters together this season and yesterday was probably our most consistent performance of the year," Powell said.
"A few games this year we've probably let up at half-time, so we spoke before the game about really pushing hard for the four quarters and getting the points.
"I thought it was a great effort from our backline.
"They've been really strong all year and didn't let the ball get down there too far."
Saints' victory, however, was soured by an injury to co-coach Nick Braybon, who left the field late in the game with a broken arm.
"I think it's pretty bad," Powell said.
"But hopefully he'll be back in a couple of months."
Bulldogs coach Peter Seymoursaid his team was given a lesson by one of the competition's benchmark teams.
"They (Saints) were really good. As I said to our guys they're the real blueprint for success up here," he said.
"We were in it for a quarter, but then they just took over."
There was a similar lopsided scoreline at Port Douglas on Saturday when the home team thrashed the Cairns City Lions 30.11 (191) to 8.5 (53).
The Lions led by 39 points at quarter time and didn't relent for the rest of the contest, with Craig Shaw bagging 10 majors.
Last Modified on 14/06/2013 12:52