Brothers captain runs riot as Byron Bay suffers first loss in NRRRL

Krause was in rare form as the Rams delivered Byron Bay its first loss of the season.

The only thing he couldn't land was a hand stand into a second cartwheel after his try took the score to 20-0 with 30 minutes to play.

It was a classy try from his own kick while his next came from the astute kicking game of halfback Shallin Fuller.

Krause muscled over early in the first half while centre Henry Lee and winger Brendan Bainda also scored tries.

It was the 12^th try of the season for Krause, backing up his 2023 efforts where he scored 22 tries, which was the most of any player in the competition.

Brothers are still sixth on the ladder and have an important home game against Evans Head on June 22.

A win would see them leapfrog the Bombers and could see them as high as fourth at the end of the round

In other games on the weekend, Ballina is now on top of the ladder after an impressive 36-22 win over Bilambil.

SUPERIOR fitness and a strong defensive effort has been a keen focus for Marist Brothers in Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League.

They will look to build on both when they take on competition leaders Byron Bay at Red Devil Park this weekend.

Brothers are coming off one of its most gutsy wins in recent memory when they defeated defending premiers Cudgen 18-14.

They played most of the game with 12 men after a player was sent off after 20 minutes for an alleged elbow in the play-the-ball.

A gritty 60 minutes saw them lay on another two tries and repel multiple Cudgen attacking raids from its youthful backline.

Coach Matt Barber said the goal in the preseason was to make sure they were fit enough to compete with the top teams in the competition.

He was part of the Ballina coaching staff when it won a premiership in 2019.

"I spent a few years at Ballina and a lot of their old boys who played years ago made the same comments," he said.

"They said you always knew you were in for a game against Marist Brothers because of how fit they were.

"That was something we wanted to get back to."

Having a fit squad makes it easier to compete against the likes of Ballina, Byron Bay and Bilambil.

The Rams have had wins over Kyogle and Tweed Coast to help them to sixth spot on the ladder.

They also navigated a close win over Casino with Cudgen its biggest scalp of the season so far.

Most of the first grade squad came together in October for a full preseason.

"We only get the guys for a few hours a week and we told the players it's just not enough," Barber said.

"The good teams are running every second day and doing gym and really looking after their bodies.

"We said if they're fair dinkum about having a crack at finals that's what they need to be doing and they responded to that."

Centre Mitchell Krause has scored nine tries this season while new halfback Shallin Fuller is one of the best in the competition.

Brothers also have a strong group of forwards who can mix with any of the packs running around.

"All the clubs are focused on playing finals football and that's definitely on our list," Barber said.

"Our coaching staff are talking almost daily on the phone to set ourselves up for games and training.

"It's a professional approach and we treat it like a job, the players buy into that, too.