Capras mount impressive comeback to down Magpies

The home side were also kicking off the 20th anniversary season of the club and were especially hungry for a good result.

The Magpies had an exciting line-up the mixed in new faces, last season’s fan favourites and some inclusions fresh from the Brisbane Broncos training squad.

Young gun Ezra Mam set the Magpies up for a flying start scoring just 10 minutes into the game, while Josh James’ successful conversion brought the score to 6-0.

Benaiah Bowie lengthened the margin to 10 in the following minutes, establishing dominance for Souths Logan over the Capras early on in the game.

Mam went two for two in the first half, coupled with an successful James conversion, they extended the lead to 16-0 in quick fashion.

However, the Capras staged their comeback off the back of an impressive performance from Jack Madden who scored the team’s first try of the game with the match 16-6 at the break.

The Magpies were down early in the second half with Cruise Ten sinbinned and Capras used this to their advantage and began the second phase of their comeback.

Jesse Jennings flew over the try line to score followed by a successful conversion by Trey Browne and that was quickly backed up by Jedidiah Simbiken who was over in the 65th minute, creating a new intensity as the gap in the scores lessened. 

Lachlan Hubner evened the score in a nail-biting play with just nine minutes remaining on the clock.

Browne secured the the win by kicking his fourth conversions for the game to start the season on a high for the Capras.

Souths Logan Magpies coach Steven Bretherton said he was disappointed in the way his side finished the game.

“I thought our discipline with penalties on exits was very poor from the 30th minute onwards,” Bretherton said.

“Something we’ll definitely have to fix quickly.”

“At 22-6 with 20 minutes to go, we need to control the game and just do the little things right, which we obviously didn’t.

“Full credit to the Capras, they are always a gritty side that never go away, Jack and Trey did a great job of getting them around the field and making good decisions.

“We’ll have to recover well during the week, educate quickly and get ready for a big night down at Marsden Saturday night against the Tigers who have started their year well with a win.”

Despite the loss, the game was still an important one for the Magpies who coincidentally also played against the Capras in 2003 in their first ever match.

The Magpies originated as a joint venture between the Canberra Raiders, Logan Scorpions and Southern Suburbs Rugby League Football Club and CEO Jim McClelland said the club was proud of their history.

“SLM are very proud of what we have been able to achieve in our 20 years throughout the Logan catchment and we look forward to finally being able to play games in Logan consistently in 2022 and beyond; and continuing to develop and offering a pathway for the youth of our corridor,” McClelland said.

Next weekend, the Capras will play against PNG Hunters.