Eastern Suburbs’ gun centre Michael Breen ran through two tries against Kingston Redbacks, and was among his side’s best in the match on Saturday.
By Stuart Teather
LADDER leaders Eastern Suburbs cruised to another comfortable victory on Saturday, downing the fancied Kingston Redbacks 55-29 at Frog Hollow Reserve, in round five of the rugby union Pillar Cup.
The side was unstoppable as it ran through eight tries, with Lewis Leaumoana, Israel Likiliki and Michael Breen all crossing the line twice.
Luke Puemau and Isaac Haimona also ran through tries, and Michael Thompson firmed his place as the league’s highest scorer with five conversions.
The Suburbs went on the attack early, with coach Stephen Tia describing it as “the best 30 minutes of rugby I’ve seen in a long time.”
“We just hit the game in the first few minutes, and they couldn’t keep up.
“We just wanted to prove it wasn’t a fluke that we were 4-0 (wins/losses),” he said. “It was a really good win actually, they were the second (best) side.”
The Suburbs covered two late changes with ease, with Junior Salesulu and James Latu pulling out late, but Tia said his bench coverage was excellent throughout the game.
“Even when we put Presley (Naea) on, rather than detract from our side he added an extra dimension.
“Everybody had a good run on the weekend, we put all our reserves on.”
Tia deflected concerns over Kingston running through five tries, saying a couple of late tries altered the final score.
“When I watched the DVD (replay), I thought our defence was quite good — it was 29-17 at half-time.”
He spoke highly of Endeavour Hills’ Tim Finau, who has improved out of sight this season to secure a place in the starting 15.
“Tim is going fine, last year he struggled a bit but he did his homework and he’s a starter now, an automatic selection.”
Tia listed his captain Moses Haukinima, former Endeavour Hills star Lewis Leaumoana and Box Hill’s Michael Breen as his side’s best.
“They are our normal superstars, they are consistently performing well.”
Having belted the second-placed Redbacks, the Suburbs remain undefeated at the midway point of the season and look a class above the rest of the pack.
The side faces last year’s champions Westgate this week at Fred Geale Oval, having thumped the Power 35-10 in the opening round of the season.
