Queensland Cup Wrap - Round 12
by
Monday June 07, 2004

Roll up, roll up! Welcome to the newest feature on BroncoNet, where each week I will recap the Queensland Cup action, analysing where it all went right and wrong.

Round 12 brought us some extremely memorable football, with tight clashes and one-sided rompings all sharing the spotlight. We also saw the return of Steve "Pearl" Renouf to rugby league, the continuing poor form of premiers Redcliffe, and the Clydesdales bouncing back to retain the Bulimba Cup Memorial Trophy.

The round started in terrific fashion, with competition heavyweights the Wynnum Seagulls facing off against defending champions Redcliffe Dolphins in the ABC televised match. A large crowd at Kougari Oval witnessed the home side outmuscling the Dolphins 30-28 in a tight and torrid encounter. Wynnum held a 24-18 lead at the halftime break, and were able to withstand a second half comeback to notch an impressive win.

Fullback Wade Liddell scored an incredible five tries in the Tigers' 86-0 demolition of competition newcomers Brothers Valleys, who are yet to win a game in 2004. Tryscoring legend Steve Renouf also grabbed a four-pointer in his return to the game, with Easts posting an incredible 16 tries for the match. The score was just 2 points shy of the Queensland Cup record, which is held by Redcliffe after their 88-0 drubbing of Logan in 2002.

The Burleigh Bears managed to steal a draw against the North Queensland Young Guns on Saturday night, in what would have been a very entertaining and even match between two fantastic rugby league teams. Winger Aseri Laing scored two tries in the final eight minutes of the match, to give himself a hat-trick and his team one competition point.

A hat-trick of tries from centre Mick Gordon helped steer the Tweed Seagulls home, defeating Central Comets 30-22. Coming back from a 22-10 deficit in the second half was never going to be an easy task, but the Seagulls managed to snatch victory and post their second successive win after a debilitating losing run.

The Norths Devils continued to show their credentials, thumping Souths Logan 60-14 at Bishop Park on Sunday afternoon. Only too aware that for-and-against may come into play around finals time, the Devils again posted an impressive attacking display at home with four of their players collecting doubles. They will look for more of the same next weekend when they face off against cellar-dwellars Brothers Valleys.

The Toowoomba Clydesdales managed to overcome the Ipswich Jets 32-26 at Bendigo Bank Oval to retain the Bulimba Cup Memorial Trophy. Buoyed by impressive performances from Adrian Vowles, Nick Parfitt and David Stagg, the visitors managed to hold out a spirited Ipswich side who showed immense spirit against the odds.

The table remains extremely close, with Toowoomba ahead of Burleigh on for-and-against, both locked on 18 points. Wynnum sit in third position on 17 points, with Easts and Norths rounding out the top 5 on 16 points apiece. North Queensland sit just outside the 5 on 15 points, with Redcliffe sitting in seventh on 14 points.

Tweed and Central are still in the finals hunt on 10 points apiece, while the season is effectively through for Ipswich, Souths Logan and Brothers-Valleys, who sit on 5, 4 and 1 point respectively.

Stay tuned to BroncoNet for all the QRL action. I will be bringing you the squads and predictions later in the week, along with the usual news from our feeder club the Toowoomba Clydesdales.