Bears down Cutters in first win of the season

Coming off a disappointing loss against Souths Logan a week earlier, Bears coach Rick Stone said he was impressed by his sides "significant" improvement. 

“Overall, I’m really happy,” Stone said. 

“We defended a lot better and put some more structure into our attack. 

“We probably let a few soft tries in and there was a lack of concentration in some areas, but we were significantly better than last week.” 

"Credit to the Cutters for delivering a strong 80 minutes of rugby league. 

“They were a good and tidy side.

“They kept coming and performed really well under the hot conditions.” 

Mackay were hampered by the loss of their big forward Emry Pere who sustained an injury during training this week, with Jack Brock named to fill the void up front.

While they started well with a great try early to Josh Smith - the first of his double - the visitors were not able to sustain the performance for the whole game.

For the Bears, next week's Easter weekend off will allow the team some time to recover ahead of their Round 3 clash against the Brisbane Tigers at Totally Workwear Stadium.

"The goal now is to keep building on what we’ve done so far and progress from there,”  Stone said. 

For Mackay, they are yet to record a win despite their strong efforts, but will hope to change that when they host the PNG Hunters.