Norths weren’t satisfied with the consistency of their attack despite unleashing seven tries on Souths Logan Magpies in another Hostplus Cup rivalry round victory at Davies Park on Sunday.
The Devils pushed on for a 38-10 win – their sixth in a row – to share top spot on the ladder with Northern Pride.
The Devils had a comparison point for their 2024 season after toppling Souths Logan 32-8 at Bishop Park in Round 3 in March.
On that day, the Devils were trying to find fluent attack after building a win-loss pattern over the first six rounds of the season.
Coach Dave Elliott’s team has broken that trend with six consecutive wins built on an average of eight tries a game.
But even the most optimistic Devils fans could see the missed opportunities in attack that prevented Norths from surging clear of a talented Magpies team that featured Brisbane Broncos players Marty Taupau, Blake Mozer and Coby Black.
There were plenty of moments for the Devils’ highlight reel including the try on the final siren to winger Manase Kaho, scorching the sideline before leaping like a basketball player to reel in Julian Christian’s pinpoint kick and score beneath the posts.
But this Devils team has been underpinned by the competition’s best defensive record all season.
They showed the same steel on Sunday, restricting the Magpies to a try late in the first half before a second-half try when the home team avoided the sideline in the act of scoring.
Captain Kierran Moseley has driven a Devils forward pack in between his starting props Tuki Simpkins and Cooper Jenkins, backed by a Dolphins NRL backrow and a deep interchange bench that has made selections competitive for Elliott.
The coach said the Devils would focus on improvement as they prepared to visit Townsville on Saturday to take on the Blackhawks.
“Our defence has been important to us all season and we again played well for each other against Souths Logan who have some real talent across their team,” Elliott said.
“But we know we can get better in all parts of our game.
“We’re heading into July and we want to make sure we’re improving so that will be a focus for us with some important matches ahead.”
The Devils scored three tries in the opening 17 minutes at Davies Park through winger Blake Paskins, fullback Jordan Lipp and Dolphins centre Tesi Niu.
Simpkins was rewarded for his consistency with a try eight minutes later – his first of an impressive season – as the Devils threatened to race away from the home team.
ROUND 16 TEAMLIST – SATURDAY 29TH JUNE @ Jack Manski Oval, Townsville – 5:00pm
