Upton scores hat-trick at Capras defeat Tigers to stay unbeaten

The Capras brought an undefeated season to the table while the Tigers suffered a loss to the Wests Panthers last week.

The rain came down and so did the ball, with plenty of errors dominating the opening stages. The conditions made it a slog for both teams.

The Capras found the first break when Hayley Maddick went through on the left, but the pass found the greasy grass and the Tigers turned away Central Queensland again.

A lot of opportunities didn’t present themselves for either side in the first half as both teams struggled in the conditions.

At halftime, the conversation was all about controlling the ball and just being patient as both coaches preached the value of simple football being effective football in the wet.

It was that star fullback Upton that shone bright on a gloomy day when she went to dummyhalf, saw a gap and kicked through for herself to score her seventh try in her sixth game in the women's statewide competition.

It was Upton again five minutes later, as the Capras went through the middle with Jessica Powell finding her way up field. On the back of that surgey, the Capras went right and Upton scored her second try.

Storch landed the two points to give the Capras a 10-point lead with under 20 minutes to go.

Hayley Maddick struck a blow to the Tigers and went through the defence and found fullback Upton on the inside to score her third try.

The next time Maddick went through on the back of her big step, she didn’t even look for Upton and kept going herself to score on the left-hand side.

It took 41 minutes for a point to be scored, but when opportunity came it was the Upton and Maddick show getting the Capras home.

The big guns had fired for the Capras and they would stay top of the table with a great 20-0 win over the Tigers.

Next week, the Capras will travel to face the North Queensland Gold Stars.

The Tigers will take on the Burleigh Bears.