5 of the Best from the Intrust Super Cup Round 24

Intrust Super Cup Round 24, the second last of the regular season, played out over the weekend, and it provided a momentous occasion as our favourite sporting team on earth – the PNG Hunters – took out the minor premiership. And with a week to spare too.

Now the anticipation of a potential Grand Final starts. But more on that, and the rest of the Intrust Super Cup Round 24 soon.

As people these days barely have time for anything, let alone a second tier rugby league competition, which is why we try and cherry pick the best of the weekend so you can use it for all your coffee catch ups for the rest of the week.

So enjoy our top 5 of the weekend action, and why not get on board if you haven’t already. Get on that PNG Hunters bandwagon now, before they are famous.

For a full review of the weekend’s action from the Intrust Super Cup Round 24 – why not catch our full rundown at Nothing But League.

PNG HUNTERS..MINOR PREMIERS

Happy days as the PNG Hunters got the win they needed to secure their first minor premiership in front of their home fans in Port Moresby.

It is a fine achievement in their fourth season, and given the vast distance involved with travelling, and the expense of paying for opposition to play in PNG, to survive let alone thrive has been great.

They did it the hard way against Wynnum, needing to overcome a deficit a few times, but a quick burst of two tries in the second half gave them the cushion and two points they needed.

Five eighth and captain Ase Boas was at his sparkling best.

Why not catch the Highlights from the QRL here.

BUT CAN THEY OVERCOME THEIR POOR FINALS RECORD:?

Minor premierships are all good, but their eyes, and ours, will be focused on Suncorp Stadium at the end of next month.

But their record in finals is not great, and by not great it is actually poor. 0 wins and 3 losses. They were unlucky in 2015 where they should have had a home final against Ipswich, but were denied due to broadcast costs. Hopefully the QRL/Channel Nein, or whoever is involved won’t make the same mistake this time around. Although it will only be an issue if they don’t win the first game. Which we hope doesn’t happen.

It would be nice if we get to see their first home final this finals series, but are not holding our breath.

MCGRADY BROTHERS HAVE THE STYLE BUT PRIDE GET THE WIN

There’s nothing better than brothers carving in up on a football field. Our favourite brothers in rugby league are the Ella brothers, the Walters brother, and the Plowman and Tessman brothers.

Of those the Ella brothers were the most creative, and there were signs of something similar from the McGrady brothers for Tweed in their match against the Pride on Sunday. Their combination for the first try was super, and there’s nothing better than two players looking like they are just reliving set moves from the backyard from back in the day.

It looked that they had led their team to a win that would take them off the bottom of the ladder. It didn’t as the Pride ran in two tries in the last eight minutes to keep Tweed on the bottom of the ladder, but they can save themselves next weekend by bettering the Central Capras result.

Oh, and the brothers are nephews of former Rothman’s Medal winner Ewan McGrady.

SOUTHS LOGAN’S BIG WIN SHOWS THEY ARE CAPABLE FOR FINALS

The Magpies rebounded well from being belted by the Easts Tigers at home last weekend to run up a huge 52-10 win over the Capras in Rockhampton.

In all the Magpies scored nine tries to two, and led 24-6 at the break after the home side had equalled early  on making it 6-6. It was a close as the Capras will get for the rest of the game.

Sure they only beat the Capras, who have now lost 10 games running, but they did it in style and showed they can rack up a big score themselves heading into the finals.

MACKAY SET FOR BEST OF THE REST TAG

With Ipswich needing to win both of their last two games by 80 points to knock Townsville out of the eight, they have had to settle for 7th, which will earn them the Best of the Rest.

The Cutters ran out 30-20 winners, but the battle goes on for next week. Gurgler favourite Michael Purcell scored, of course he did, but it wasn’t enough as they were beaten by five tries to three.

RESULTS