Rockhampton Wolverines make winning start to the North Queensland Gridiron League

Check out the replays of the Wolverines and Gladstone’s Port City Pirates Round 3 games in the North Queensland Gridiron League.

The Rockhampton Wolverines remain unbeaten in the North Queensland Gridiron League.

Their third straight win of the 2021 season came against the Mackay Mavericks on Saturday.

After a sluggish start, they stormed home to take the game 32-9.

Competition newcomers, the Port City Pirates from Gladstone, put in a spirited showing in their 30-point loss to the Townsville Cyclones.

There were promising signs for the Pirates, who lost their first two games to the Wolverines.

Wolverines’ president and centre Raymond Wheeler said Saturday’s win was a good one.

“It was a tough game against Mackay, like always,” he said.

“We started off a little slowly but once we got into our rhythm and started playing our game, the points started coming.”

Wheeler said quarterback Robbie Chelepy was outstanding, controlling the game brilliantly.

“Defence as a whole again was outstanding,” he said.

“They’ve been really strong and looking at the points, we’ve only given up about 14 points in our three games.”

Wheeler said the Wolverines were keen to repeat the success of their debut season when they won the NQGL grand final in March 2020.

He said they couldn’t have asked for a better start to their quest but they would face a tough test in Round 4 this weekend.

“Our biggest competition will be this week against Townsville so we’ll see how we go there,” he said.

“We just have to play smart football, keep it simple, stick to our roles and make no errors,” he said.