The winning momentum ended for the Sunshine Coast Falcons and Brisbane Tigers in the Hostplus Cup in Queensland at the weekend.
Despite the presence of eight Melbourne Storm contracted players in their line-up, the second-placed Falcons were upset 32-18 by the Redcliffe Dolphins at Kayo Stadium.
Redcliffe bounced away to a 16-0 lead after 23 minutes and despite a late first-half rally from the Falcons which featured tries to Tyran Wishart and Jayden Nikorima, the home side was never headed.
The Dolphins went into halftime with a 16-14 lead and then scored the next three tries to seal the win, with the Falcons only adding a final-minute four-pointer to Luke Poselli.
Wishart topped the tackle count for the Falcons with 37 tackles at hooker, while Grant Anderson led the metres gained list on 137 metres and fullback Sua Fa’alogo added a try assist and two linebreak assists to his season statistics.
In a further setback to the Falcons, Storm back-rower Jack Howarth left the field with a dislocated shoulder midway through the second half.
On Sunday, the Tigers were involved in a see-sawing contest against the Burleigh Bears on the Gold Coast, eventually succumbing 20-16.
The Brisbane side paid the price for too many errors, completing at just 63% against a Bears outfit which had nine extra sets of possession and twice as many linebreaks (six to three).
Storm halfback Jordan Pezet returned to the Tigers for his first Hostplus Cup minutes since making his NRL debut.
This Sunday, the sixth-placed Tigers face the 13th-placed Townsville Blackhawks at (2.10pm kickoff), while the Falcons, now in third, host the 11th-placed Norths Devils (2.30pm kickoff).
