Centrals Trinity Beach coach Mick Seymour isn't getting carried away with his team's form despite a comprehensive win in the AFL pre-season grand final at Cazalys on Saturday.
The Bulldogs beat North Cairns 7.10 (52) to 4.6 (30) to claim their first silverware in several years.
It was the perfect warm-up for their round one game against the Tigers at Watsons Oval on Saturday.
The Bulldogs have lost several key players from last season including Heath Barnett, Callum Rhode and Josh Maher.
Several pick-ups stood out on Saturday, including defender Mick Hunter.
"(Hunter) had an outstanding game,’’ Seymour said.
"He would have been best on ground. He just backed himself and ran with the ball well.
"He certainly put his best foot forward and so did Ryan Matthews.’’
Seymour said all teams were below their best at this stage of the season and he wasn’t prepared to make any bold predictions about the Bulldogs.
"We’ve still got four or five players who I assume will play senior footy so we’ll be boosted a little again,’’ he said.
Tigers coach Brett Oakley was impressed with the Bulldogs.
"They were very good at the weekend but we’ve got a few changes to make that will make our team stronger so I’ll be very interested to see how we go next week,’’ he said.
Manunda beat Cairns Saints 11.7 (73) to 7.7 (49) in a curtain-raiser match, while PNG finished its week in Cairns on a high with a 50-point win over South Cairns.
The young PNG team has won three of its four games in Cairns.
Asia Pacific manager Andrew Cadzow said it was a learning experience for many of the players.
"For most of them even having green grass and a good set-up at Cazalys, they are used to playing on dirt pitches and cricket pitches so it was culturally very different for those younger boys,’’ he said.
"It’s a pretty young side, our best 20 players are still in Brisbane playing so it was really good for the young boys to see how well they went.’’
Cadzow said PNG could become a regular presence in the AFL Cairns pre-season competition.
Cadzow would also like to see a full-strength PNG take on a Cairns representative side later this season.
Last Modified on 27/10/2010 15:50