Courtesy of the QRL
THIS time last year the Mackay Cutters had bumbled and fumbled their way to a second-straight loss.
Fast forward 12 months and the Cutters are now one of the early pacesetters in the competition.
The much improved Cutters outplayed the Easts Tigers 34-16 to record back-to-back Queensland Cup victories in front of a huge crowd in Mackay on Saturday night. A strong opening 40 minutes paved the way for Mackay’s victory.
Cutters coach Shane Muspratt was thrilled with his team’s execution in attack.
“When you complete 17 from 21 sets you’re definitely going to put yourself in the game straight away,” Muspratt said.
“We didn’t get the lead a coach would have liked (at half-time), but it set us up for the second half.”
The former Cowboys half said the players’ attitude was “spot on”.
“We’re doing the little things for each other,” he said.
After taking a 14-12 lead into half-time, the Cutters’ committed defensive line restricted the visitors to just one try in the second half.
The Cutters had no problems posting points when it was their turn with the ball, with star centre Royston Lightning notching two of the home team’s seven tries.
In fact, the Cutters were slightly unlucky not to register even more points in the second half. Giant prop Quinton Fielder was held up over the line on two separate occasions.
Back-rower Jerome Iakimo was named players’ player for the Cutters. “He was outstanding,” Muspratt said of Iakimo, who starred with Souths in the local Mackay competition last year. “He made a really good impact off the bench.”
While the Cutters are going from strength to strength, the out-of-sorts Tigers were left to pick up the pieces following a second loss.
But Muspratt refused to write off the Langlands Park club, despite their patchy form and the very real prospect that they could potentially be 0-3 next weekend after a tough away trip to Cairns.
“They’ve got some new players at the club and obviously the combinations have still got to click a bit,” he said.
“Once they get that they’ve got the forwards that can definitely lay a platform. I still think they’re going to be up there.”
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