In the first game of the Bain Cup, Kendall captain-coach Beau Kettle crossed for first points before the Marlins hit back with three tries of their own.

The Blues then scored 20 unanswered second half points of their own to open their pre-season account.

Kettle said once his side settled into a “groove” they were comfortable winners.

“When we started to click we ran away with it,” he said.

Centre Jahbe Latham and brother Bade scored four tries between themselves in the second half.

“The real highlight for me was Bade and Jahbe Latham,” Kettle said.

“Jahbe scored three tries and Bade scored one himself from hooker.”

The Blues captain-coach said his team’s cause wasn’t helped by simple errors at different stages of the game.

“We knocked on three times off the kick off and kicked out on the full another time which doesn’t help,” he said.

“We had a slow start; it was one of those games that was a bit frustrating because we weren’t completing sets or building any pressure.

“A few passes didn’t need to be thrown.”

Kettle was hopeful his side would have a full team to choose from for next weekend’s matches.

“We had 15 players to start with, but one of the boys was only 50-50 to start with and only had one hit up so we were left with 14,” he said.

The focus now will be on improving their efforts without the ball.

“One thing I learnt from all the games is that every team is going to be handy with the ball this season, so we’ll work on improving our defence.”

In other matches on Saturday, Long Flat Dragons edged out the Beechwood Shamrocks 12-10.

The final game of the day saw the Lower Macleay Magpies prove way too strong for Comboyne Tigers in a 36-8 win.