THE Cairns District Rugby League minor premiership has come down to the last weekend of the regular season and will be decided on Saturday night when Innisfail hosts Brothers.
Innisfail’s 32-26 loss to Kangaroos yesterday meant they lost their two-point lead at the top of the ladder and are now tied on 36 points with Brothers.
The pair’s head-to-head clash on Saturday will determine the minor premiership and which team will sit out the opening week of the finals with automatic passage to the grand final qualifier.
Innisfail coach Ben Hagan described yesterday’s game as "pretty ordinary", conceding it was "one of our worst of the year".
The Leprechauns completed just three sets in the second half in a sloppy display.
"It was very frustrating sitting on the sidelines but it’s better that it happens now than at semi-final time," Hagan said.
He avoided the cliched expression "wake-up call" but Hagan said the timing of the loss was probably a good thing for his players heading into the finals.
"Definitely the boys realise we’ve still got quite a lot of work to do," he said.
Roos will play the knockout semi-final against Ivanhoes in the first week of playoffs regardless of their results in the final two rounds but yesterday’s win came as a welcome sign for coach David Westley who has been looking for an improved attitude from his players.
"It was a big turnaround for us," Westley said of the positive attitude which translated into cohesive attack, scrambling defence and numbers in the tackle.
Keiren Hayes won Roos’ players’ player award, with Eric Warria and Steve Kim also among their best.
Steven Singleton is still out with injury but expected back next week.
In other games at the weekend, Mareeba continued its strong run, beating Atherton 40-22 at Davies Park on Friday night.
The win pushed Mareeba past Atherton on the table and some coaches of teams in the finals are likely to be quietly pleased not to have to meet the in-form defending premiers in the playoffs.
On Saturday night, Suburbs posted just their third win of the season against Yarrabah.
Tully cemented its place in the top thee after picking up points thanks to a forfeit by Mossman but its players will miss Gold Medal points due to the scratching.
