Round 2 Saturday wrap: Clunky Magpies tough out win over Tweed

Blake Mozer then began to find holes around the ruck and put Rory Ferguson through one of them for a rare try to help the Magpies to a 12-4 lead at half-time.

The momentum carried into the second half when Va'a Semu crashed over in the 47th minute.

A Will Brimson try in the 70th minute gave the Seagulls some hope of a comeback, but it was quickly quashed when Joseph Tomane crossed with five minutes remaining.

Souths Logan Magpies lock Rory Ferguson was thrilled to cross the stripe and get the ball down after learnt his lesson from being held up earlier in the game.

"I didn't run hard enough the first two times. Blakey (Mozer) was holding them up for me nicely and I got held up twice there, so it was good to get over the third time," he said.

"An early meaty - I don't score that many, so I'll enjoy that."

Ferguson said the team recognised their attack was "clunky" as it was in Round 1, but gave credit to the Seagulls for a challenging slide defence that stopped them finding space out wide.

"But I think across the board we all did our job. We all ran hard and tackled hard and were lucky to come away with the two points," he said.

"It's exciting what we're capable of, I reckon. We are building as a team and we've got a lot more in the tank there."

Magpies coach Karmichael Hunt placed the blame on himself for the attacking stutters of his side despite lauding the defence.

"I guess on the attacking side it wasn't a great night at all. I probably take the blame as a coach though because our sole focus over the last month has been our defence and when it comes to reviewing our 'D' tonight, I can't really fault the boys

"We'll take the win though. It's about forging our identity as a team early on, especially defensively in this competition, and I think the boys ticked that box tonight.

"Handling was one issue and I think it looked like there was a bit of confusion with our strategy out there and when it comes to some of our decision-makers out there, some of them are new.

"Tristan and Blake are dropping back a couple of times - it was our second week with them - so we expect our attacking side to start to click a bit more over the next month.

Hunt said he hoped to "iron out some of these kinks" in attack in time to face Norths Devils at Bishop Park in Round 3.

Elsewhere, Northern Pride ran rampant in the second half with four unanswered tries against Brisbane Tigers to shoot to the top of the ladder.

Troy Leo scored a double as Burleigh Bears made short work of Townsville Blackhawks.

Jesse Jennings and Blake Moore scored doubles as Central Queensland Capras capitalised on two PNG Hunters sin bins to run away with it in the second half.

The Cutters continued on their merry way with a five-tries-to-two win, including a Jamal Shibasaki double.

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Main image: Rory Ferguson celebrates with teammates after scoring a first half try. Photo: Jacob Grams/QRL