The Wynnum Manly Seagulls secured an emphatic come-from-behind victory over another team that has struggled to find consistent form; downing the Mackay Cutters 34-20 at BB Print Stadium.
However, it was a positive start for the hosts who burst out of the blocks early, with five-eighth Nicho Hynes orchestrating the Cutters' opening points, finding Kurt Wiltshire out wide.
Wiltshire then returned the favour in finding Hynes on his inside shortly after for the second try of the night.
Prolific try-scorer Daniel Ogden got the visitors on the board as he spied a gap in the Cutters defence, before Cooper Bambling responded swiftly for the home side, reinstating the hosts' buffer shortly after.
Things started to go wrong for Mackay when Jordan Grant found himself in the sin bin for a professional foul approaching the break, and the Seagulls capitalised on the numerical advantage.
They closed the gap to four points at halftime after Mitch Cronin crossed for a try.
Big winger Johnny Faletagoa'i got the Cutters heading back in the right direction at the start of the second stanza with a try out wide, but the momentum began to shift as Wynnum’s Peter Gubb broke through some flimsy tackling – again out wide – to get the Seagulls back within striking distance.
Young back Edward Burns then put the Gulls into the lead outright after a high ball was spilled into his path.
Kalolo Saitaua gave Wynnum Manly some breathing space on the scoreboard with a short range effort, before Burns capped off the victory with his second try of the night.
The Cutters will next week travel to PNG to take on the Hunters; while the Seagulls will take confidence into their Round 14 home clash against the Ipswich Jets. Both matches are Sunday at 3pm.
See the full scoring details and final team line-up at QRL Live
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 34 (Edward Burns 2, Daniel Ogden, Mitch Cronin, Peter Gubb, Kalolo Saitaua tries; Patrick Templeman 5 goals) def MACKAY CUTTERS 20 (Kurt Wiltshire, Nicho Hynes, Cooper Bambling, Johnny Faletagoa’i tries; Nicho Hynes 2 goals) at BB Print Stadium, Mackay.
*John Bartley is a QRL Correspondent covering the Mackay Cutters
