TSS and Toowoomba claimed nail biting wins in round two to join Churchie on the top of the GPS ladder after the opening fortnight of the 2023 competition, while Nudgee opened their season with a win against an impressive Ipswich outfit. 

Here are a few individual performances that caught our eye. 

Blaze Moana – TSS

The Southport hooker started and finished the defining try of the match, which came from a 20 plus metre driving maul. 

Moana threw perfectly to the back, then showed good patience and trust in his teammates to edge him to the line. 

He also threw a lovely pass under pressure to set up a try in the first half. 

Richard Dean – Toowoomba

Toowoomba fullback Richard Dean produced one of the biggest right foot steps you’ll see to beat his defender and score a crucial try in a match Dean and his teammates probably didn’t deserve to win. 

Special mention should also go to the entire State High backline, who attacked from everywhere and were fantastic to watch. 

Joe Stoddart – Churchie

Last week, it was Stoddart’s defence that helped his side to a tight victory. 

This week, the flanker scored two tries by working hard off the ball and supporting his teammates as the match opened up. He also showed good speed to beat several cover defenders to the try line. 

Macarius Pereira – Nudgee

The big prop scored his side’s first try of the season and dominated all afternoon at scrum and maul time. 

But things took a while to click for Nudgee and as skipper, Pereira showed great patience and smarts to stick to his side’s game plan, knowing that there dominance at set piece time would lead to opportunities late in the match. 

Amaziah Murgha – Ipswich

At this rate, it’s going to be hard not to pick Murgha every week. 

The lightning quick winger scored another two tries and found a variety of ways to play his way in to the match, on both sides of the field. 

As a decoy runner, he attracts as much attention as he does in clean space.