Premiers Cloncurry Eagles have a lot of work to do if they are to retain the Lewie Fire Mount Isa Rugby League Premiership they won so memorably in 2016.
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At Alec Inch Oval on Saturday they crashed to their second straight defeat of the season in their first visit to Mount Isa this year.
The draw has not been kind to the Eagles who started the season with a tough roadtrip to Normanton and then faced Wanderers in the first game of three in a row in Mount Isa.
The premiers were caught cold by Wanderers in the first half where the damage was done.
After eight minutes Curry gave the ball away just 30m out from their line and Wanderers duly punished them with the first try of the game on the left wing.
This area of the ground would prove to be a trouble spot for the Eagles.
The first five tries they conceded were all scored in this area of the ground though Wanderers’ wayward conversion kicking meant the damage on the scoreboard was not as bad as it could have been.
Another penalty to Wanderers after 12 minutes led to a second try.
Wanderers fumbled from the restart but Cloncurry had a controversial penalty awarded against them in the ensuing scrum.
Wanderers promptly brought the ball down field to grab try number three and the fourth quickly followed .
With barely a quarter of the game played it it was 18-0.
A shell-shocked Cloncurry gradually got a toe-hold in the game but the closest they came to a try was being held up over the line.
And after a fruitless spell of pressure they gave the ball away easily again for the fifth try.
For good measure Wanderers added one more to go into the break 28-0 up and the game virtually won.
Credit to Curry for adding some respectability to the score in the second half, narrowly outscoring their opponents.
But it was not enough to put any dent into a comfortable winning margin for the home side.
Wanderers came off happy with their first win after losing to Town in Round 1.
Final score Wanderers 44, Cloncurry 18.