The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls travelled to Totally Workwear Stadium to take on the Brisbane Tigers in their final match of the Hostplus Cup regular season. No lead was ever safe in this one but the Tigers managed to hold on to take the chocolates with a 32-30 win.
Tweed have made a habit out of conceding tries early in a match and Haele Finau took full advantage to score his first try in the sixth minute. The Tigers dummy half jumped out from behind the ruck and found space between the markers. With Darren Nicholls pushing up in support, he passed to his halfback before receiving a flick out the back to score under the posts.
Needing a response to conceding early, Tweed forced an error out of Wesley Molo and went to exactly what they know best. A long left shift put the Seagulls on the front foot before Charlie Murray settled the play in the middle of the field, producing a quick play-the-ball in the process. Sam Lisone barked orders to those around him, took the ball and first receiver, and hit JJ Collins on a simple overs line for the Tweed props to link up for points.
The two props looked to link up again shortly after only for this one to end in an error. In a position to move the ball and stretch the defensive line, Finau again found success jumping out of dummy half. Getting his arms through the line to release an offload to Bronson Garlick, Garlick found Tony Pellow pushing up on his hip to score Brisbane’s second under the sticks.
Nicholls pushed Brisbane’s lead out to 18-6 only five minutes later. A Jayden Nikorima grubber on the last sat up perfectly for the 33-year-old who provided Bessie Toomaga with another sitter in front of the posts.
A period of sustained pressure on the Tigers line eventually translated into points for the Seagulls. Will Brimson forced a dropout and threatened down the left edge on the ensuing set to force another error. Dangerous from scrums all season, Jamyane Isaako went over in the corner. Showing his class and composure taking possession with little room to move, a step off his right and another off his left put Zak Talbi on his heels leaving Isaako with just enough room to dive over in the corner.
Just as Brisbane did to them, Tweed followed one try up with another shortly after. A strong Lisone carry marched the Seagulls up the field before a left shift kept the defence tracking backwards. Spotting a tired William Samuel defending on the right edge, Brimson danced around the prop forward to break into the backfield and send Braden Robson over the line to level things up at 18-18 after 30 minutes.
Points promote line speed for the Seagulls. With their tails up after scoring back-to-back tries, the intensity in defence lifted for Tweed to shut down two Brisbane raids on their line before halftime.
The second half started much like the first, only Isaako was the Seagulls winger to knock the ball on. He couldn’t collect a Nikorima grubber with the ball popping up for Taibi to fall over the line and put Brisbane 22-18 in front. A Jo Vuna penalty soon allowed Jonah Pezet to knock over a goal to make it 24-18.
The referee called Lindon McGrady out for a meeting about Tweed’s general discipline after Brimson put a late shot on in defence. Pezet added another two points to his tally by kicking the penalty goal and a Brimson error leading to a second Garlick try added to Brisbane’s lead.
The rain contributed to Brimson’s error but didn’t stop the Seagulls from offloading the football in the search of points. They threatened the line and forced a handful of penalties out of the Tigers. Nicholls took a similar meeting to McGrady’s only five minutes earlier with both teams on notice for repeated penalties.
Forced to defend multiple sets on their line, the Tigers eventually cracked. Spry went close in back-to-back sets in the build-up before McGrady put him into a gap to score.
Ioane Seiuli’s line held up Nikorima just long enough for McGrady to get on the outside, draw in the centre and bring the Seagulls back into the game with 15 minutes to play.
Tweed returned to the same shift on the very next set, only this time, the pass found Seiuli who drew the fullback and sent Sam Lisone over to cut the deficit to two.
A Tigers error defusing Sexton’s bomb after points put the Seagulls hot on the attack but Scott Galeano couldn’t get the ball over in the corner. Rather fittingly, it was Finau that finished the job for Brisbane. Having been heavily involved to start the match, the hooker once again jumped out from behind the ruck and beat a McGrady tackle on the line to secure the 38-30 win.
The two teams will now prepare for a rematch in Week 1 of the finals after finishing 6th and 7th on the Hostplus Cup ladder after 20 rounds.
Key Takeaways
The points flowed in bunches both ways for the Seagulls again this week. They had conceded tries in the first ten minutes in each of their four games before the Round 19 shutout of the Blackhawks. However, despite the strong defence last week, they again found themselves behind on the scoreboard early. Still, they scored points just as quickly when given the chance. Four minutes split their second and third tries to level the scores at 18-18. Four minutes also separated their fourth and fifth try to cut the deficit to two points in the second half. Scott Galeano almost made it a hat trick but couldn’t quite get the ball down to give Tweed the lead.
Conceding points early has made games difficult to start but the attack has proven capable of piling up the points time and time again.
Coach’s Comments
Treymain Spry continues in his return to footy and is striking up a dangerous partnership with Jamayne Isaako on the right side. Tweed coach Ben Woolf was impressed with the pair in this one.
“Trey is looking better on that edge and I thought Jamayne was really good today,” said Woolf.
Round 20 will act as a preview to Week 1 of the finals with the Seagulls and Tigers set to go at it again. Woolf has circled his side’s effort in defence as the focus during the week.
“Our effort needs to be a lot better, particularly in defence,” Woolf said.
“We can’t afford to defend like that if we are gonna win games in the Finals.”
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
Our aim at Rugby League Writers:
The Pub Test is a classic rugby league reference. Heck, the NRL have changed rules based on what they think does and doesn’t pass The Pub Test. We want YOU to be the most informed person at that pub. By digging into the best players, teams, shapes and schemes, we observe the game through an analytical lense and piece it all together through weekly previews, reviews, newsletters and features.
Related Posts
