Rowe ices Bears victory in 100th game as Stone celebrates 150 wins

Four out of the last five times these teams have met, the Blackhawks have come out on top, which made them the favourites heading into the BHP Indigenous Round 8 clash. 

But the Bears capitalised on their home ground advantage and took the North Queensland team by surprise, finishing on top to secure their fifth win of the season.

An early try from Townsville second rower Nathan Barrett led the crowd to believe the pre-match stats, but the defending premiers had other ideas and responded with their own try 10 minutes later.

After this, the Bears couldn’t help themselves and converted two more tries, heading into the break with a comfortable 10-point lead.

The second half was a fairly uneventful affair until Burleigh’s Luke Page was placed in the sin bin with 20 minutes to go, then the Blackhawks pounced on their opportunity to crack the Bears’ stubborn defence.

Two consecutive tries from the North Queensland team looked positive late in the clash as they clawed their way back into the running, but unfortunately, they couldn’t hold the lead.

In the end, it was Rowe who delivered his side the victory within the last five minutes of play, as he scored his second try of the day in his milestone game.

“It was pretty special to get a win like that in my 100th game," Rowe said after the match.

"I'm pretty honoured and privileged to do that for a great club like Burleigh and I'm just stoked to get the win.

"I had a lot of family come out and celebrate my 100th game, so I just tried to pull something out of the bag and getting two under my belt today is pretty pleasing."

Burleigh coach Rick Stone was proud of his team coming away with the two points and becomes the first coach to achieve 150 Cup wins.

He also joins Wayne Treleaven and former Bears coach Jimmy Lenihan on 218 games in charge - equal second of all time - and is set to surpass Ben Walker and Shane Walker in Round 10 as the most-capped Intrust Super Cup coach of all time.

Next week, the Burleigh Bears host the Central Queensland Capras at Pizzey Park.

The Blackhawks travel back to the Gold Coast to play the Hunters.