Cutters aim to maintain positive progress

Mackay come into this Sunday's game off a 34-18 win over Souths Logan Magpies, while Norths endured a tough afternoon in their Round 11 match, going down to a 22-0 loss against Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

While Mackay will be happy with the two points from last week, they will be looking to rectify a few things and improve on their game.

In defence, Mackay missed 44 tackles and put pressure on themselves by making 17 more tackles than the Magpies.

Mackay coach Craig Kennedy said he knew what he wanted to work on with his team before their match-up against Norths.

“Defence, and particularly goal-line defence, is what we base our game on, so we need that again on Saturday,” Kennedy said.

“It’s all about that for us, as it probably is for every club. We know if we do that, then attack comes from that.

“Norths are a strong club, so we know that 22-0 will not please them.

“They are around us on the table, so we know these are the wins you need if you believe you’re a chance of making finals.”

Individually, Mackay would be happy with their attack; six tries is hard to argue with. Some of their key performers in their victory were Jordan Hill who made 201 run metres and Brenton Baira who made a great impact, having a full day out with one try, five goals, and a line break. Baira now has 62 points this season and is proving difficult for teams to handle.

“Hill and Baira are both guys that feature for us, but they are both just learning,” Kennedy said.

“Hill is coming back from a long term injury, but is making an impact for us and Baira really starting to be a consistent contributor for us.”

The round will kick off on Saturday afternoon with Wynnum Manly at home to Western Clydesdales.

Wynnum Manly are the form team of the competition and haven’t lost since Round 2. They’re top-of-the-table and their past three games have brought about 102 points for and only 20 against. That’s great defence and terrific attack.

Last week's 22-0 win against the Devils was as comprehensive as it gets and Wynnum Manly’s Jordan Davies will be doing well if he ever betters his 230 run metres. On the other side of the ball, Will Parslow made 38 tackles.

The Western Clydesdales were beaten by Ipswich Jets in Ipswich on Saturday, but Oliver Bichel again was outstanding in a beaten team with 42 tackles.

Bichel has topped the Clydesdales tackle count or metres gained in six of the 10 games played.

Townsville Blackhawks will be ruing their missed chance against the Sunshine Coast Falcons last weekend where they went down 20-16. The Blackhawks were down 10-6 at half-time and scored two second half tries, but it wasn’t enough.

However, centre Jordan Lipp was impressive as always with 124 run metres and Joel Baldwin made 38 tackles.

In their match, Souths Logan lost 34-18 to Mackay Cutters despite starting well with a try to Ben Smith in the second minute. The Magpies had two tries by the 18th minute and were leading 18-4 at half-time, so this will be one that got away.

Fullback Timothy Sielaff-Burns made a massive 226 run metres while Max Pakai made 35 tackles in two standout performances for the Magpies.

Central Queensland Capras got away with a two-point win over Tweed Seagulls in their last game, thanks largely to Peyton Jenkins who scored two tries in the first 13 minutes of play.

Jenkins followed it up with two goals to bring his tally up to 12 points.

Mitchell Leard-Lamont made 192 run metres and hooker Owen Pattie made 40 tackles in a great win for the Capras.

The Sunshine Coast Falcons won 20-16 last weekend against Townsville Blackhawks with 59 per cent of the ball and Kaleb Sutton made a giant 273 run metres. The Falcons dominated everything with 26 tackle breaks and only 12 missed tackles.

If the Falcons continue in this form, they will be hard to beat.

The Dolphins had a great 36-20 win against Brisbane Tigers at Langlands Park last weekend after they controlled the ball better.

The side produced 41 tackle breaks and an average set distance of nearly half the field means the Dolphins were getting down the field quickly and a big part of that was halfback Connor Williams making 198 run metres.

In their match, Tweed came up short by two points to a Capras side that is causing plenty of heartache in 2022. Tweed had the better of large passages of play, but it didn’t’ result in a win.

Kalab Ngamanu was dominate with the ball with 181 metres and Jordan Stewart-Lewis nearly cracked the 50 with 49 tackles.

Ipswich Jets are coming off two wins in a row and will be confident that three can be achieved this week against Burleigh Bears.

The Jets are in form and playing good football and their Round 11 42-6 win over the Clydesdales was exactly the type of football the Jets can play.

The Jets had 63 per cent of the ball and made nine line breaks and 48 tackle breaks and missed only 12 tackles.

The Bears are coming off a massive win too, they beat the Pride 78-12 and Isaac Matalavea-Booth (above) was unstoppable with 221 run metres while Hunter Ploegsma made three-line breaks.

Brisbane Tigers will be keen to get back on the field this week after losing to the Dolphins in their last match. The Tigers would have been happy with their start and scoring twice in seven minutes to lead 16-8 at half-time, but in the second half, the Dolphins scored 28 points and ran away with the win.

However, Jordan Penquitt had a well-rounded day out with 28 tackles and 147 run metres.

Their opposition this weekend are Northern Pride will want to turn around their performance this week against the Tigers. Last round, despite going into the game after posting their first win the week beforehand, the Pride came crashing back to earth with a big loss to the Bears. Liam Joseph was a light on the hill with 163 run metres, Ryan Flegler made 30 tackles in a tough loss.

QRL Match Review charges results Round 11 Hastings Deering Colts

You can watch all the Hastings Deering Colts matches via QPlus.tv.