A fast-finishing Gungahlin Bulls capitalised on the sin-binning of Belconnen United Sharks winger Levi Kaloutolu to notch a 40-22 win at the old Raiders headquarters on Saturday.
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Kaloutolu's swinging arm on Rourke O'Sullivan earned him a 10-minute break, and allowed Neil Bijorac's Bulls to wrest momentum from the home side late in the first half, scoring twice down the Sharks' undermanned left edge.
It continued the Bulls' perfect start to the season, but coach Bijorac said his side was still far from the finished product.
"We put ourselves under too much pressure, we had eight or nine dropped balls and I think five or six of them were in their 20, you can't turn over that much ball," Bijorac said.
"Last year I think we were none and three [to start the season] and trying to build our combinations. I'm happy that we're still winning these games while still working on a few combinations.
"We've also got a few new personnel into key positions, that's going to take a little bit of time to gel. As with everything you've got to play a few games with combinations before they start working."
The Sharks started strongest at their new home ground when hooker Ewan McCarroll burrowed over from close range.
Both sides traded tries until Kaloutolu was binned and Bijorac's men took control.
Scott Logan's rebuilding Sharks dug in after half time, but were disallowed a try due to a late call on a forward pass which seemed to stifle their momentum.
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"We've just got to learn to stick together and pick up the torque when we're fatigued and react a bit better when we get a little bit of adversity," Logan said.
"In terms of consistency over the 80 minutes, we've got to learn to be better.
"We completed at 50 per cent in the first half and 70 in the second which rounds out to 60 per cent, and you can't win footy games at 60 per cent."
Logan has spent the offseason re-assembling his roster which lost some key players due to the COVID-affected 2020.
"We had a full team signed and ready to go for 2020 and the decision was made from our club not to go ahead over that COVID period - we lost five or six quality players," Logan said.
"Without going to rob the nest from somewhere else we had to rely on what came to us and what we had.
"We've got a bunch of guys that want to improve, that work really hard during the week which that's why it's disappointing when we can't control the ball and can't really see their true potential out there."
CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND 2
Queanbeyan Blues 40 (Tries: M Parsons 2, C Ale 2, R Holani 2, G Morseu; Goals: J Mitchell 6) d Yass Magpies 6 (Try: D Barrie; Goal: S Davis)
Woden Valley Rams 26 (Tries: A Agnew 2, L Eveston 2, S Maloney; Goals: B Robertson 3) d Tuggeranong Bushrangers 22 (Tries: W Alexander-McCarthy 2, N Low, T Mariota; Goals: J Heyman 3)
Gungahlin Bulls 40 (Tries: T Eldridge, T Sherd, L Thomson, K Kenny, Jordan Williams, Jack Williams, M Richards; Goals: L Thomson 6) d Belconnen United Sharks 22 (Tries: M Kaho 2, P Amponn-Nyamekye, E McCarroll, J Slavin; Goals: M Kaho 2)