North Lakes Kangaroos stamped their authority coming into the latter stages of the Rugby League Brisbane Open 3 North competition with an emphatic 56-4 thrashing of third placed Brighton Roosters on Saturday.
With the Roosters breathing down the Kangaroos necks on the ladder, both clubs now sit equal on 18 points, however it was the Kangaroos who grabbed bragging rights at the Griffin Sports Complex.
In what ultimately ended up as an avalanche of points by full time, it was the home side who posted first points in the fifth minute of play to get the ball rolling.
With hardly any possession for the Roosters in the first half, they were left to defend their own line by a ruthless Kangaroos side who never took their foot off the throttle.
Kangaroos centre Jordan Phillips was a nuisance for the visitors out wide and the powerful three quarter put the Roos on the board again in the seventh minute, fending off some flimsy Roosters defence.
Club stalwart Viki Nati was his usual busy self from dummy half.
The tireless hooker sent his other Kangaroos centre Bailey Dionysius in for another North Lakes four pointer.
Roos halfback Bronson Blakemore was another hero for the home side and his superb cut out pass to find Ray Moala lurking out wide put the Kangaroos further in front.
Brighton was hanging on for life at this stage but they refused to raise the white flag.
Pat Meni, Cody Erb and Paul Siu were all standouts for the visitors who courageously held their own against a Kangaroos juggernaut.
By this stage, North Lakes were in overdrive and some smart thinking by Nati saw the workaholic hooker lunge over from dummy half to see the home side head into the sheds with a 28-0 lead.
Only two minutes into the second half the Kangaroos continued where they left off.
Phillips bagged his second try of the afternoon after palming off two Roosters defenders to cross under the sticks.
The home side were in again four minutes later to see the Roos reeling at 40-0.
North Lakes best player on the park Phillips continued to taunt his opposition and notched up his hat trick of tries by gliding in out wide to score.
But, in true Roosters fashion they hung in there to the very end and were finally rewarded for their heroic efforts.
Siu’s lovely cut out ball to find a waiting Meni saw the back rower stroll in for a consolation try to add some respectability to the scoreline.
However, the Roosters comeback was short lived when the Kangaroos scored beside the sticks to bring up the half century, but the Kangaroos were not done yet.
Blakemore’s midfield break found lock Gaugatao Malaetele-Elive who thundered to the line to plant the ball under the sticks and round off what was a dynamite performance by the entertaining Kangaroos.
