QUEANBEYAN Kangaroos five-eighth Jordan Macey may have been put on notice by coach Aaron Gorrell, but it merely proved a magic trick after he announced himself as one of the best halves in the Canberra Raiders Cup.
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The Kangaroos dispatched the Belconnen United Scholars 36-18 at Freebody Oval last Saturday with Macey scoring a hat-trick of tries and tearing Belconnen to shreds with his ball and foot work.
But after a 10-0 healf time lead Gorrell was not satisfied with his men's game, and words in the sheds inspired the work of Macey in the second.
And the spark of form comes at a great time, with the in-form Goulburn Workers Bulldogs in their sights back at home on Saturday, before encounters with the Tuggeranong Bushrangers and the Gungahlin Bulls.
Kangaroos skipper Troy Whiley said the second half against the Scholars was the best his men had played, and agreed it had the in a good position going forward.
"We had to switch on after they scored first in the second half, and full credit to Jordan for getting those three tries, but I think it came off the back of the the forwards," he said.
"Jordan can do what he does when the forwards are going forward for him.'
After Saturday's win Whiley was so confident his men could repeat the effort against the Bulldogs he said they could get away with switching on for one half.
"We've just got to keep our heads down and if we get away to a ten or twelve lead start like we did against Belconnen we've just got to use waht was working for us...I'm pretty confident we'll come away with two points," he said.
Whiley said the Kangroos' pre-season plan was to go the first half of the season undefeated, and was confident they could do that if they pulled through the next three games unscathed.
Meanwhile the Queanbeyan Blues returned to the winners list with a 28-22 win over the Woden Valley Rams at Phillip District last Saturday.