Cutters debutant Coen Hess had a night to savour, scoring two tries and earning the man of the match award in his side’s 28-18 comeback win over the Dolphins on Saturday night.
The Mt Isa product – who is contracted to the NQ Cowboys and represented Queensland Under 18s last year – was called on early after Tyson Martin left the field with concussion.
He also produced the kick to set up Buchanan Rawhiti's match-sealer to go with this two tries.
"His two tries were good second-rower tries, hitting the ball hard," Cutters coach Kim Williams said of the young gun.
The Cutters started poorly against the Dolphins and were behind 8-4 at halftime.
However, in the end were able to ground out the win.
“We made it harder for ourselves than we needed to," Williams said.
“It was probably one of my angrier half-time addresses, but what I love about this team is they respond.”
With a howling wind at their backs, the second half was a vast improvement for the Cutters in sometimes driving rain.
Williams said a number of his players looked "fatigued" and played accordingly.
The Cutters were without Chris Gesch, who was away for family reasons.
“We had a few more holes up the middle than we usually have,” Williams said.
For Redcliffe, the loss was compounded by a shoulder injury suffered to John Brady early in the game, with the five-eighth to have scans this week.
This match was also the final match for Michael Sio with the Cutters, with the hooker signing with Yorkshire side Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
MACKAY CUTTERS 28 (Coen Hess 2, Jordan Pereira, Buchanan Rawhiti, Brenden Treston tries; Liam Taylor 4 goals) def REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 18 (Josh Beehag, Oliver Regan, Harley Aiono, Nick Ritter tries; Luke Capewell goa) at Stadium Mackay.
Final Teams:
Mackay Cutters: 1. Sam Clune 2. Jordan Pereira 3. Tyson Martin 4. Justin Tavae 5. Buchanan Rawhiti 6. Cameron Cullen 7. Liam Taylor 8. Brad Lupi 9. Michael Sio 15. Ben Jones 11. Brenden Treston 12. Coen Hess 13. Aleki Falepaini 14. Josh Chudleigh 16. Joss Boyton 17. Gavin Bennion 18. Ryan Kinlyside
Redcliffe Dolphins:
1. Josh Beehag 2. Tristan Lumley 3. Joe Bradley 4. Tom Opacic 5. Curtis Johnston 6. John Brady 7. Luke Capewell (c) 19. Oliver Regan 9. Darcy Etrich 10. Jon Green 11. Aaron Whitchurch 12. Harley Aiono 13. Tyson Cleal 14. Logan Harris 15. Tom Geraghty 16. Nick Ritter 17. Taylor Brown
