Much will be at stake in the second round of the Bundaberg Broadcasters A Grade Premiership tomorrow, with two games at Salter Oval.
Perennial heavyweights and first-up winners, reigning champions Past Brothers and Waves Tigers will battle it out at 6pm after season-opening losers Wests Panthers and Easts Magpies square off at 4.15pm.
Last week, Brothers put a disappointing Hervey Bay Seagulls to the sword 64-6 with gun centres Connor Jones and Corey Findlay, who both suffered season ending injuries in successive weeks in June last year, making comebacks in style with three and two tries respectively in classy all-round performances.
The 18-year-old Canterbury Bulldogs-linked fullback Blake Powter, who also missed the finals due to injury, turned it on with 24 points from one try and 10 conversions in a player of the match blitz.
Waves held on to defeat Wests 22-16 with twin doubles to explosive wingers Ponipate Wailevu in his return from Fiji, and Mitchell Clayton, who was a game breaker for Brothers in their 2021 preliminary and grand final triumphs but only played a few games last year, on his Tigers debut.
Easts were ambushed by Wallaroos 38-24 first-up, with 'Roos giving promise of a rise up the ladder after several lean seasons.
The veterans in former NRL star lock Maurice 'Bobby' Blair and centre and former triple BRL A Grade player of the year Shaun Collins each notched doubles.
Tigers coach Antonio Kaufusi was “happy” to start their campaign with a win but said they must improve.
“I thought we played well – the whole backline were unbelievable. Both wingers, Ponipate and Mitchell, both had 15-plus carries and I had to give them a massive wrap. They ran ball hard back for us and finished off a couple tries each," he said.
"Centres Jensen Deamer, who played his best game for the club and was our players’ player, and Layton Chambers, and fullback Marty Powell, has not played too much for years but was really safe under the high ball.
“We led the whole way and were 16-0 up after the first 10 minutes of the second half, and we should have put them away but we kept handing the ball over. They never gave up and they snagged a few tries and had all the momentum in the last 20 minutes, but we scrambled really well.
“But we don’t have to put ourselves in those situations, and we have got to be a lot better. We took a lot of positives out of the game, but we have to try and build on what we did.”
Kaufusi said they would be without quiet achieving five-eighth Brad Clarke on Saturday for family reasons, but that under 18 talent Ryan Bugeja, who was 18th man last week, would debut in the halves and is “excited for him to play”.
Jake McLennan is also away, but Kaufusi said Noah Law starts in his place in the back row, and that powerhouse front rower Kiya Schnabel will need to fitness a test on his shoulder to take his spot in the team.
A 16-14 extra-time loss to Brothers in last year’s preliminary final is extra motivation for the seven players who were part of that heartbreak, but Kaufusi knows little about the premiers’ current side.
“I didn’t watch them play last week and I will wait until after the first full round and we have played everyone to get a better gauge and focus on us as a team and what we need to do better,” he said.
In the other match, Hervey Bay Seagulls will be aiming to redeem themselves and get their season on track when they host Wallaroos at 5pm at Stafford Park, but 'Roos will undoubtedly be improved by their outing last week and look set to take a power of beating.
Main image: Centres Connor Jones and Corey Findlay were pleased to return from injuries which prematurely ended their 2023 seasons to wreak havoc with three and two tries respectively in Past Brothers’ Round 1 demolition of Hervey Bay Seagulls last week.
