The day was special in many ways as fans, former players and the two current Intrust Super Cup teams – Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Souths Logan Magpies – gathered at BMD Kougari Oval for the inaugural Mitch Cronin Memorial Cup.
Both teams slowly walked onto the field in front of the chook pen and past the newly unveiled Mitch Cronin Hill, turning under the posts and walking on to the ground.
The spread out across the field on the halfway line faced the new giant digital scoreboard; those on the field and linked arms and watched a brief video of the great Mitch Cronin.
You could have heard a pin drop as the 2000-plus crowd stood and observed one-minute of silence to remember a great footy play and amazing human.
Then it was on. You could tell from the kick-off that both teams had come to play.
It was a tight defensive game for the first 10 minutes before Brisbane Broncos star Corey Oates crossed over out wide for a try to put Souths Logan Magpies on the front foot, 4-0.
Their lead was short lived as big Max Elliott barged over close to the sticks and Jack Campagnolo slotted the conversion and the Seagulls were on the board, 6-4.
Just on the 20-minute mark Jayden Berrell jumped on a mistake by Ethan Quai-Ward and forced his way through three tacklers to score next to the posts. Campagnolo slotted the conversion and the Seagulls were out to a 12-4 lead.
The next 10 minutes was dotted with errors and penalties from both sides, which kept the game mid-field.
Lachlan Cooper took advantage of a ruck infringement penalty to score out wide and Isaiah Tass slotted the conversion and the Magpies were only two points adrift of the Seagulls.
Then right on half-time Quai-Ward made up for his earlier lapse by crashing over for a strong try, which Tass converted and Magpies were off to the dressing sheds 16-12 up.
