A mix of spectacular and clinical football has seen the XXXX Queensland Rangers take a 46-16 win against the NSWRL Pioneers at Burleigh's Pizzey Park.
Redcliffe youngster Trai Fuller notched three eye-catching tries as the Rangers bounced back from a heavy 30-14 loss in the same fixture last year to lead 28-0 shortly after halftime.
The Rangers started full of vigour, forcing a turnover on the first play of the game with an aggressive tackle from the kick-off.
They dominated proceedings in the opening stanza, though the Pioneers had two good opportunities that went begging when Shane Kiel and Jack Miller spilled balls in decent position.
With the dummy-half service of Rangers captain Tristan Hope a standout feature, young prop Bailey Butler of Redcliffe burrowed through three defenders for first points of the match in the 15th minute.
The Rangers backed up with a relatively easy try to Townsville-based Logan Spaander just three minutes later for a 12-0 advantage.
Then came a spectacular move by will-o-the-wisp winger Fuller, beating six defenders and reaching out with one hand to defiantly plant the ball after rolling the dice on a short blindside.
Rounding out a resounding first half, interchange forward Lata Fakalelu received another crisp Hope pass and crashed over to make it a 22-point advantage.
Minutes into the second half, Fuller was defending a dangerous overlap when he managed to tip a Pioneers pass and steal a 90m intercept try that reaffirmed the upper hand.
Despite a second half double to NSW centre Kiel, who regularly made inroads, the Rangers stayed well and truly in the driver's seat.
Although Fuller grabbed his third try in the 73rd minute, the most sensational try of the second stanza came to leftside centre Lenny Magey.
The Pioneers allowed a kick restart to bounce on their own 15m line, and Magey followed at pace to collect it when it awkwardly ricocheted backwards, touching down for one of the quickest tries seen at the home of the Burleigh Bears.
Full scoring details and final team lists available at QRL Live.
XXXX QUEENSLAND RANGERS 46 (Trai Fuller 3, Bailey Butler, Logan Spaander, Lata Fakalelu, Tristan Hope, Lenny Magey tries; Logan Spaander 7 goals) def NSWRL PIONEERS 16 (Shane Kiel 2, Jordan Martin tries; Brad Murray 2 goals) at Pizzey Park, Burleigh.
