Bears still on top

The I Luv Coffee Burleigh Bears extended their winning streak to four and will remain at the top of the Intrust Super Cup ladder for at least the next fortnight thanks to a 44-20 win over CQ Capras while the Titans’ other feeder club Tweed Heads Seagulls will have to string some victories together soon if they are to keep any finals hopes alive

It is the first time the Bears have won four straight in over five years, and with a bye to come next week they cannot be knocked off top spot until at least Sunday, July 10. 

“We need it, badly,” Bears coach Jim Lenihan said of the upcoming bye. “Some teams in the competition have had two byes already and this is going to be our first.

“It has been a great effort up until this point to go this long without it, but the bye will give us a chance to get away from football for a week and come back refreshed.”

The Bears had been beaten in five of their previous six appearances at Browne Park, but this time they managed to break the Rockhampton hoodoo thanks largely to a strong second half performance.

Fullback Kurtis Rowe continued his rich vein of form with another try that takes him to 14 for the season while winger Olly Regan scored a hat-trick.

 “The score probably didn’t reflect the outcome of the game,” Lenihan said. “It wasn’t until the last 15 minutes or so that we actually got some breathing space; it was a tough game.

“It was a bit of a tit for tat affair early in the game and it wasn’t a great start for us, but we cleaned it up a bit in the second half and were able to finish it off.

“(In the second half) I think we put more effort into our defence and we focused on defending well which forced errors and gave us opportunities to score through field position.

“It was just a better attitude with our defence which we were probably lacking in the first half.”

The Bears welcomed back Nate Peteru from suspension and Lachlan Burr after he had been on 18^th man duties for the Titans while Cameron Cullen missed the game as 18^th man for the Titans on Sunday.

The Souths Logan Magpies headed down to Piggabeen Sports for their clash against the Seagulls fresh from a bye and won 48-30 after opening up a 28-6 lead at half-time after scoring four tries in the opening 20 minutes, as they exposed the Seagulls’ right edge.

Titans hooker Kierran Moseley was one of the Seagulls’ try-scorers and played solidly but Tweed have dropped to second last on the ladder and face fourth-placed PNG Hunters at home this weekend.

BURLEIGH BEARS 44 (Olly Regan 3, Luke Page, Waka Wanahi, Sami Sauiluma, Kurtis Rowe, Daniel Schwass tries; Jamal Fogarty 6 goals) def CQ CAPRAS 20 (Junior Kirisome 2, Gavin Hiscox, Tarrant Mariner tries; Matt Minto 2 goals) at Browne Park.

SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 48 (Sam Scarlett 2, George Fai 2, Dan Tamou, Phil Dennis, Jack Joass, Luke Archer tries; Jack Joass 5, Bradley Frith 3 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 30 (Shannon Walker, Sam Irwin, Alex Grant, Michael Burgess, Kierran Moseley tries; Michael Burgess 4, Sam Meskell goals) at Piggabeen Sports.

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 16

NEXT WEEK’S GAMES

Saturday 2 July

Ipswich Jets v CQ Capras at North Ipswich Reserve 4:00pm

Mackay Cutters v Sunshine Coast Falcons at BB Print Stadium, Mackay 6:00pm

Redcliffe Dolphins v Wynnum Manly Seagulls at Dolphin Oval 7:00pm

Sunday 3 July

Norths Devils v Easts Tigers at Bishop Park 1:40pm (Channel 9)

Souths Logan Magpies v Townsville Blackhawks at Davies Park 2:00pm

Tweed Heads Seagulls v PNG Hunters at Piggabeen Sports 2:05pm

Bye: Northern Pride, Burleigh Bears

For Tweed highlights, click this link - http://www.qrl.com.au/news/2016/06/27/highlights_tweed_hea.html

For Bears highlights - http://www.qrl.com.au/news/2016/06/27/highlights_caprasi_v.html