Sam Elliott’s 50-metre dash, featuring two dummies, a fend and a mighty dive propelled Norths Devils to an 11th consecutive win last night.
Elliott’s showstopper drove the Devils to a 14-10 lead over Redcliffe Dolphins at Kayo Stadium before a scoreless 15-minute slog in the rain and wind.
This wasn’t the Devils’ greatest performance but the premiers again showed their defensive heart to retain their lead at the top of the Hostplus Cup table.
The gritty win continued a Devils run that has featured:
- A 7-0 start to the season under coach Rohan Smith
- 11 consecutive wins including last year’s NRL State Championship
- 10 consecutive Hostplus Cup wins, equalling the club record set in 2021
- A fifth consecutive win over Redcliffe
The Devils retained the Kav Cup – named after former Devil and Dolphin Steve Kavanagh – which is contested between the rivals each year with their second win over the Dolphins in three weeks.
This game challenged Smith’s men more than their Easter Saturday showdown at Bishop Park.
The Dolphins rode a strong wind and Norths’ errors to an early lead as they made the visitors camp near their own line for much of the opening 15 minutes.
But this Norths team makes teams work to score points against them.
After seven matches this season, the Devils are conceding an average of 12.5 points per game.
In attack, they’re scoring at almost 30 points per game.
“Free-flowing games are easy to watch but there is a lot of satisfaction in watching games that really come down to defence,” coach Smith said.
“Redcliffe are a very good team and they always make teams work hard. There were no easy points out there and we had to defend a few mistakes.
“We’ve still got a lot to work on in a competition that is always challenging.”
Tries were tough to come by for the Devils last night until they again torched a team with a midfield scrum as hooker Zak McGuire linked with in-form fullback Matthew Milson before five-eighth Jordan Lipp and winger LJ Nonu confused the Dolphins’ defence for a try in the corner in the 26th minute.
The Devils did not have enough field position to lead at halftime but they hit the front two minutes before the break.
Trailing by two points with a penalty directly in front of the posts, the Devils resisted a penalty goal, instead taking a tap that produced a try in two tackles.
Prop Jerome Veve slipped a perfect pass for edge forward Oryn Keeley to catch and score in the tackle for an 8-6 halftime lead.
Redcliffe’s try to winger Ethan Quai-Ward in the 48th minute gave them the lead back before the try to premiership forward Elliott in the 65th minute against his former team.
The Devils were again well served across the field in the battle of the NRL Dolphins affiliates.
Redcliffe had four fulltime NRL squad members in their team while the Devils had three – Sean O’Sullivan, Oryn Keeley and Kenny Bromwich.
O’Sullivan joined Lipp in the halves as the Devils continued to shuffle their squad with players unavailable through injury.
The Devils again had a different starting front-row – Peter Hola, McGuire and Bromwich – while Jackson Shereb, Keeley and James Flack also started in the forward pack.
Captain Kierran Moseley, half Ben Stevanovic and premiership players Jack Ahearn and Ben Nakubuwai continue their recoveries and are expected back within weeks.
That has provided the likes of McGuire, Lauloto Salei and Lachlan Lewis with valuable exposure while Blake Paskins’ versatility has helped the Devils’ backline.
Winger Nonu scored his sixth try from as many matches – he and fellow winger Manase Kaho have 13 between them – while co-captains Flack and Jacob Gagan continue to lead the Devils well.
The Devils are at home on Sunday to PNG Hunters.
NORTHS DEVILS 14 (LJ Nonu, Oryn Keeley, Sam Elliott tries, Jordan Lipp goal) bt REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 10 (Zac Miles, Ethan Quai-Ward tries, Josh James goal) at Kayo Stadium.
Photo by Alan Drinnen
