By Liam Emerton
The Brothers Kangaroos have earnt their second win of the season by wrangling the Glenmore Bulls in a close encounter.
The match was held at Stenlake Park as a part of the Sir Douglas Nicholls round which recognises and celebrates Indigenous players and culture and it was an absolute cracker with the Glenmore Bulls club putting on an incredible and powerful day.
With both clubs donning their beautiful Indigenous guernseys, the men’s A Grade collided in the main event.
The Bulls led by just two after the first quarter taking a 4.2 (26) – 4.0 (24) lead into the second stanza before the Brothers hit back with three goals to Glenmore’s 2.2 (14) in order to take the halftime lead.
With the scoreboard reading 7.0 (42) – 6.4 (40) at the half, a low scoring third period tied the score up at 8.0 (48) – 7.6 (48) heading into the final quarter.
With the game on the line the Kangaroos stood up, scoring four goals and a behind to the Bulls three and a single behind to take the win 12.1 (73) – 10.7 (67) in a spectacular finish.
The deadly sharpshooting of Damon Dessent would score a team-high three goals to help lead the Brothers to a top-class win.
Hazekiah Fletcher (2), Thomas Hutchieson (2), Caden Ruff (2), Hamish Macdonald, Samuel Penrose and Brandon Waine all chipped in big time to get the Kangaroos their second four-pointer of the year.
Across at Swan Park, the defending premiers, the Yeppoon Swans, had a fairly close game with their 2023 grand final opponents.
In one of their lowest scoring matches in recent history the Swans defeated the BITS Saints 9.7 (61) – 4.3 (27).
Despite the low score, it was always fairly comfortable for the Yeppoon squad, winning each quarter by at least a goal.
Josh Mckee kicked a bag of five with contributions from Shaun Connor, Leigh Cossens, Michael Gallagher and Grant Van Rooyen helping tick the scoreboard over.
And in the final match of the round the Rockhampton Panthers have suffered another tough defeat, going down 13.13 (91) – 7.6 (48) to the Gladstone Suns.
The Suns’ Jay Winnell was all over the Panthers, kicking five goals to lead his team to an impressive victory.
This week those Panthers will have a chance to avenge and earlier loss when they host the Brothers.
The Kangas were successful over Rockhampton in the traditional Anzac Day clash in round one and the Panthers are seemingly yet to recover from the sting of that loss.
The Rockhampton squad are yet to notch up a win this season but would love to do it against their cross-town rivals at the RCG this weekend.
The Bulls will get their chance to exact revenge in round six as well when they collide with the Yeppoon Swans.
The Swans defeated the Bulls back in round one and now Glenmore will have their chance to take on the final undefeated team in the competition.
And in the final men’s A Grade match the BITS Saints take on the Gladstone Suns in that region’s local derby.
In the women’s competition the Rockhampton Panthers continue to roll on with an 8.11 (59) – 1.3 (9) win over the Suns.
With a plan to lock down that top spot the Panthers will collide with the Brothers Kangaroos on Saturday.
The Yeppoon Swans got back on track after losing to the Rockhampton squad last week to knock off the Saints 9.17 (71) – 0.0 (0) in round five.
Their round six opponents will be the Glenmore Bulls while the Gladstone Suns and BITS Saints face off.