The initial centre bounces were strongly contested by both teams until Southport’s Adam Mackenzie opened up the centre of the ground with hard running and quick disposals. His combination with forward Alec Jones provided the perfect foundation for the Gold Coast team to build from in the first term as the ball rarely left Southport’s forward half.
The dominant display continued in the second quarter as Southport dominated the opening contest. Early goals continued to put pressure on Nudgee before the drought was finally broken mid-term. The following ruck contest provided further confidence when Nudgee’s Nick Price kicked long into the forward line. This was short lived, however, as Southport held strong and dominated the rest of the quarter, finishing with a thirty five point lead going into halftime.
At the start of the third quarter it was Mackenzie who again took advantage of the centre clearances and kicked long into the Southport forward line. The Southport forwards handled the incoming delivery from their forward line with ease and regularly turned half chances into goals.
However, the shining light for Nudgee was fullback Joel Turaga, whose aggression on the football could never be questioned. Unfortunately for Nudgee, he was a lone hand in the backline as Southport kicked truly and finished with a crushing eighty-seven point victory.
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