After trailing by as much as 32 midway through the second quarter, North cashed in on a favourable trailwind to reclaim the bragging rights they won at last years inagural fixture.
As he has fon in the Cairns competition for a decade, captain Matt Walsh was unstoppable in the 14.16 (100) to 9.11 (65) win, built on the back of a six goals to none final term.
The Saints spearhead finished with seven majors, four of which he booted in a storming last quarter that had teammates serving marks in the forward 50 up on platters. "He had a great day" coach John Tootell said of best on ground Walsh. "That breeze was pretty strong in that last quarter so we knew if we got him within striking distance we would be hard to beat. We isolated hom down there and we know hes got great hands. He did the rest."
Walsh was gifted good service from Charlie Haley and Jack Philip, while vice captain Nathan Peters and Ricky Sullivan worked tirelessly to stem a quality South lineup.
South - featuring former AFL players Robert Copeland and Anthony Corrie - took full advantage of the howling wind early at the Burpengary field. "They had the breeze in the first quarter and we knew it was going to be tough" Tootell said. "It was a three of four goal breeze and some of those kicks were hard to make. It was a bit frustrating that we were playing to a plan and there were playing good fast, play on football. But we decided to put an extra man behind the ball and a few taller options out wide to try and slow them down." After landing the opening bragging rights Tootell said it was pleasing to be able to repeat the dose. "Its always good to win this sort of game" he said. "They were well prepared for us and have been training for a month so its very nice to get the bragging rights again".
Final score NQ 14.16 (100) South QLD 9.11 (65)
Last Modified on 10/06/2015 16:53