ROUND 15/2010 - Queensland Cup

Both sides may have been without key personnel for the Davies Park clash yesterday – but the Souths Logan Magpies still had the skills and speed to demolish the Wynnum Manly Seagulls 58-12.

Speedy Magpies Run Riot

The home side ran in 11 tries to two – with most coming off the back of some amazing speed from the Magpies and some fragile Seagulls defence.

Quentin Laulu-Togagae scored the Magpies’ first try in the opening minutes of the game – but there was little to indicate the onslaught that was to follow.

Canberra Raiders import Josh McCrone had his hand in just about everything in the first half for the Magpies – setting up tries to Reece Robinson and Laulu-Togagae through a deft kick and clever offloads.

Robinson then used his pace to pick up the second of his three tries of the afternoon to take the Magpies to a 20-0 lead over the visitors with only 15 minutes gone on the clock.

While much of the action was being provided by their exciting backline, the Magpies forwards worked hard to get their team in good position.

Kieran Whalley (Queensland Residents) had provided much of the team’s go-forward throughout the season, but his absence was barely felt as the young forwards including James Tutuila and Sam Gardel worked hard through the middle.

They may have been fighting against a rising tide – but the Seagulls showed great character to get on the board when a Matt Seamark kick found a flying Shaun Cotter.

Cotter, who was impressive in a well-beaten side, outjumped the Magpies defender and brought the ball back with him over the line.

But the visitors let in another soft try when James Stuart got the ball out from the scrum and ran through some flimsy defence to score.

Wynnum hearts sank even further when Magpies winger Michael Brophy grabbed an intercept and ran the length of the field to give his team a 30-6 lead going into the break.

While they would have been forgiven for coming back to the field with their heads down, the Seagulls rallied to score the first try on the return from the break through Hanan Laban.

But the defiance was short lived –Souths Logan had too much speed on their outside for the Seagulls to handle and soon worked up an attacking rhythm.

They countered the Wynnum fightback by scoring four more tries in quick succession to blow the score out to 52-12.

And as if to highlight the plight of the Seagulls afternoon – Brophy finished the second half as he did the first – again collecting a Wynnum Manly pass off his own line before sprinting down field to rub more salt into the Seagulls’ gaping wounds.

Match Preview

In a huge boost for Wynnum Manly, Damien Quinn has been named in the Seagulls side for his first Queensland Cup appearance since 2005.

Quinn, who has returned home after a successful overseas stint with the Celtic Crusaders, holds Wynnum’s points scoring record with 482 from 62 games.

He is the sixth top scorer with 750 points from 102 games with Wynnum and Toowoomba. Quinn’s return has come at a perfect time for the Seagulls who have three players unavailable this weekend due to Queensland Residents commitments.

The Magpies are even harder hit, with four players – David Milne, Brad Cross, Kieran Whalley and Phil Dennis – involved in the Residents clash.

Their unavailability will test the Magpies’ depth but coach Mark Beaumont is quietly confident his patched up team can hit back after their round 14 loss to the Pride.