Bears topple Devils with commanding win

The Burleigh Bears have put on a dominant performance in front of their home crowd on a historic day for the club as they hosted their first ever Indigenous Round event.

Stepping out in their inaugural Indigenous jerseys, the Bears put on an attacking clinic, obtaining 82 per cent of possession and scoring 42 unanswered points in the first half, highlighted by a Matiu Stone-Dunn hat-trick.  

A few errors throughout the second half slowed Burleigh’s attacking momentum, however the competition leaders proved that they can be just as dominant without the ball in hand, holding out the Devils attack up until the 67th minute.

The Bears' second half points came through their middle men Dylan Kelly and Herman Ese’ese in the 59th and 71st minutes respectively while the Devils received some consolation with two late tries in the final minutes of the match.

Bears coach Rick Stone was impressed with his side's first half performance and commended their execution.

“We’ve had a lot of good starts to first halves this year but none better than that," he said.

"I think it’s the first time in my 25 years of coaching at a decent grade that we’ve had 82 per cent of the ball in the first half. That’s a massive amount and the execution there was obviously really good and we managed the game well.

“In the second half it was a bit frustrating at times ... we let some basic errors in and allowed Norths a few points which was disappointing. But obviously it’s good to play a good quality side and come away with a win like that."

The Bears walked away winners 54-18.