MAROOCHY-Northshore exacted savage revenge on Surfers Paradise and Noosa turned the tables on their 2009 grand final conquerors Palm Beach-Currumbin in the second round of Pineapple Hotel Cup action on Saturday.
And, after Burleigh downed Wilston-Grange and Sandgate trounced Mayne, only three of the 10 teams are unbeaten after two rounds, Burleigh and Sandgate adding a refreshing new look at the top of the ladder.
It is only very early days yet, but once again indications from the weekend were that this season’s competition is shaping as perhaps the most even since the inception of the AFLQ second division.
Fitness gives Noosa the edge in battle of the big cats.
COACH Wayne Fletcher’s mantra of supreme conditioning carried Noosa to a revenge win over Palm Beach-Currumbin in the 2009 grand final rematch at Weyba Road on Saturday.
Fletcher runs a personal fitness business and, even though most clubs have had weather-ravaged pre-season campaigns, it was evident that his Tigers had an edge over their grand final conquerors in what was a free-flowing affair.
Noosa bounced back from a poor round-one effort against Sandgate to send PBC packing by 18.18 (126) to 17.9 (111).
Assistant coach Neville Allen agreed the run of the Tigers was the difference between the sides, especially late when only four points separated the sides with about 10 minutes to go.
Also providing a major positional influence was veteran clubman Brett Duke, whose job as a federal police officer has him as fit as he has ever been.
“We rated his effort as perhaps his best in his time at Noosa,” said Allen after the big man kicked 6-1, including a couple when moved from centre half-forward to centre half-back.
Peel Thunder recruit, ruckman Brendan Page, was also outstanding, although rookie PBC opposite Jack Barry drew praise from the Noosa camp for his gutsy input.
Champion on-baller Lucas Matthews (pictured taking a blinder), has apparently slotted straight back into the Tiger ethic after a season with Aspley in division one and was another Noosa standout, as were Gary Wallace on a wing and tireless small man Caleb Isles.
Noosa kicked 22 points clear of the Lions at half-time after they strung together five unanswered goals, but when PBC did practically the same in the third quarter, only four points separated the sides at the final break.
Pre-match talk was that whatever the sides produced on Saturday, not much notice should be taken of it given there were at least 11 grand final players missing from both the rival camps.
But PBC have up to six star performers still to come back. On Saturday they did not have Mikal Bloom, Michael I’Anson, Ryan Rodgers, Adrian Hill, Ryan Carroll or Aaron Lohrey available, so they will, as Allen said, ‘definitely improve’.
Last week coach Craig O’Brien forecast a big season from Albury recruit Nrad Horn and the slick centreman lived up to that wrap with an outstanding performance.
Skipper Matt Carroll said the Lions can’t wait to see him team up with Mikal Bloom once last year’s Ray Poulter Medallist returns, most likely after Easter.
“He’s a good player and it’s great to have him on board,” said Carroll.
Horn, Barry, half-back Jack Munro and centre half-forward Brent Pearson also shone for the Lions.
Roos produce some ominous form
IT was an exercise in redemption that turned into a cakewalk for the Maroochy-Northshore Roos when they took on 2009 destroyers Surfers Paradise at Fishermans Road on Saturday.
Grossly depleted Surfers, who shocked the Roos with a stunning final-term comeback to eliminate their weekend rivals from the 2009 finals race, were blown off the park and went down by 18.25 (133) to 3.7 (25).
“They were too big,” said Surfers coach Robbie Martin.
“They outran us and they outmuscled us.”
So complete were the Roos against an outfit that has been savagely ravaged by the departures of a large group of quality players that the home side led 72 points at half-time, keeping the visitors goal-less.
At least the Demons made it more competitive after half-time, kicking 3.5 to 8.11 but a factor in that was the poor kicking of the home side, an area coach Peter Somerville will be working hard to address over the next fortnight.
“It was similar to last week,” said Somerville of the kicking. “Because of the interrupted pre-season, we’re still working towards where we want to be skills-wise.
“But overall around the ground the skills were a bit better.”
Dual Duncanson-Todd Medallist Ryan White had a cracker game in a side that was, as the scoreboard suggests, loaded with good players.
The Roos, entitled to early flag favouritism given the number of good players their main rivals have lost, also had wingman Kane Tyson, back pocket David Hulsman and ruckman Tyson Williams in top form.
Asked whether his Demons were as bad as the final scoreline suggested, Martin produced an emphatic ‘no’. “We’re better than that,” he said.
Best for the Demons were usual suspect Simon Fenton in the middle, half-back Clint Cassidy and youngster Jordan Pope.
Hawks smash north Brisbane rivals
A NORTH Brisbane derby that promised so much turned into a fizzer as Sandgate made it two in a row to start the new season with a 124-point thumping of Mayne at Everton Park.
The dominant Hawks took the derby by a convincing 19.15 (129) to 3.7 (25) after keeping the toothless Tigers goal-less in the second half.
“I can’t say I’m totally surprised (by the final margin),” said successful Sandgate captain-coach Ben Long.
“We prepared well for the game, but I probably expected it to be closer than that.”
His rival, Mayne coach Mitch Ferguson, was straight to the point.
Asked how he would explain such a hiding, he replied: “You don’t. We got pumped.
“We couldn’t get the ball off them when they had it, their skills were superb and their defence was just too good.”
Long supported Ferguson’s thoughts on the back division of Sandgate.
“That was probably our highlight – our defence shut down their key forwards,” he said.
Full-back Glen Hunter and Aaron Fabian at centre half-back were the leading lights in defence while up forward Josh Walker kicked five goals in a promising performance.
And teenager Tom Overington, still eligible for under-17s, was also prominent on-ball.
The Tigers had few highlights. Overworked defenders Corey Massingham and Cody Bird, along with on-baller Tom Falconer were exceptions to the norm.
Bombers continue bright start
BURLEIGH made it back-to-back wins to start the new season after beating Wilston-Grange at Hickey Park on Saturday.
Burleigh took the points by 15.13 (103) to 13.9 (87) to join Maroochy-Northshore and Sandgate as the only unbeaten teams after two rounds.
A starring performance at centre half-forward by the versatile Luke Rowe and another impressive effort from Geelong recruit Jacob Johnson highlighted Burleigh’s win after they set up victory with a first term of 4.2 to 1.1. The visitors maintained that advantage for the rest of the clash.
Vanquished Grange player-coach Michael Rogers didn’t mince words when trying to explain what went wrong with his Gorillas.
“We were terrible, the scoreboard flattered us a bit and we played well only in the last quarter,” he said.
“We took about 10 steps backwards from last week
“And their centre half-forward (Rowe) killed us.”
Burleigh’s assistant coach and football manager Matt Jamieson said the Bombers’ half-back line was instrumental for the away win and he added that midfielder Shane Cooke was another impressive contributor.
“We gave them a start and we couldn’t catch up,” said Rogers.
Only ruckman Jim McMahon and defend and captain Bill Oswell rated mention in Rogers’ best-players list, so disappointed was he with the listless Gorillas.
Cooly singing the blues
A SPARKLING seven-goal haul from goalsneak Damien Gray and a super leadership role by midfield general Daniel Hawkins earned Coolangatta their first win of the season away to Springwood at Lowe Oval on Saturday.
Half-forward Gray, a 19-year-old from Mildura who brought a reputation of being a top goalkicker as a junior north with him, snuck up on the Pumas, admitted coach Brad Pollock.
“He caught us by surprise and I think he had four goals on the board before we realised we had to do something about it,” said Pollock.
Coolangatta led by 17 points at half-time, but a third term of 7.6 to 3.2 virtually sent the Pumas packing before they staged a final-quarter rally.
“We had a good last quarter (6.2 to 1.5) but it was all done and dusted by then,” said Pollock.
It was that final term that etched a few worry creases across the forehead of Blues coach Grant McKenzie.
“All the good work was undone somewhat by that last quarter,” he said.
“We were pretty flat – and we were the previous week against Burleigh.
“The problem see4ms to be that we’re easing off the pressure.”
While Hawkins and Gray were outstanding, McKenzie also liked the work of ex-Southport defender Jim Walsh and on-baller Matt McLaughlin.
Best for the Pumas were full-back Josh Sutton, forward pocket Josh Menz, acting captain Aaron Richardson and big ruckman Renn Lovitt.
Last Modified on 29/03/2010 13:35