The season of the brave Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls has come to an end with a 40-18 loss to Wynnum Manly in the Intrust Super Cup preliminary final at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
Tweed led 6-0 and were the better team for the first 25 minutes but a crucial call by match officials and two costly errors either side of halftime saw the classy Wynnum gain momentum that the border outfit, with just 10 NRL games of experience compared to Wynnum’s 300-plus, could not arrest.
In the end it was the class, attacking strike-power and experience of Wynnum, with fullback Selwyn Cobbo and centre Delouise Hoeter outstanding, that was too much for Tweed to overcome.
Yet Tweed, who had more setbacks than any of the finalists and only one current NRL squad member in halfback Toby Sexton, should be proud of a season in which they showed character and resilience in spades under coach Ben Woolf who deservedly finished second to minor premiers Norths Devils mentor Rohan Smith as coach of the year.
“After a really solid start we just made a few errors at crucial times and you can’t give a side as good as Wynnum that much possession and not pay,” Woolf said.
“We ran out of troops to a degree too because of injuries and had a prop in Daniel Ross playing on the far right in the end (the eighth interchange in the 68th minute after winger Jack Macklin, five-eighth Will Brimson, lock Braden Robson and second-rower Juwan Compain left the field).
“I still think we might have been in the game a lot longer after we scored straight after halftime but an error off the kick-off didn’t help. But our blokes competed right to the end and that’s how their attitude has been all year.
“With the loss of players we had in the second half of the season, the core players who were there stuck together and did so well to take us so far.
“We’ve got plenty to be proud of from the season and I couldn’t have asked for more effort.”
The game began in 30-degree heat, so good ball retention and smart ends to sets became more important. And Tweed were impressive in effectively completing their first six possessions and working well into the game.
Continued pressure from Tweed saw them post first points in the 17th minute after three successive sets of possession when second-rower Juwan Compain squeezed through three defenders off a good Brent Woolf pass at the line. Sexton converted for a 6-0 lead.
A tough call in the 26th minute proved crucial. Winger John Macklin lost the ball in an attempted strip by Wynnum which should have been a Wynnum knock on yet play was allowed to continue. After a repeat set and penalty, Wynnum took advantage when hooker Jayden Berrell fought his way over after taking a good offload from lock Luke Bateman. Jack Campagnolo’s goal levelled the scored after 28 minutes.
Tweed were made to pay again straight afterwards. Lindon McGrady booted the ball dead from the kick-off and, from the resulting Wynnum penalty, they scored a brilliant try on the right touchline after a good offload by Francis Kalisolaite-Tualau and a one-handed pass from Selwyn Cobbo to Delouise Hoeter. Campagnolo’s conversion gave Wynnum a 12-6 lead in the 31st minute.
They went further ahead three minutes later when five-eighth Campagnolo dummied outside, propped inside and put Kalisolaite-Tualau away for the line from 30 metres. The conversion saw Wynnum post 18 points in eight minutes after Tweed clearly has the upper hand for the first 25 minutes.
Hoeter crossed two minutes before the break after Wynnum again chanced their arm to the right and he beat McGrady with a big left-foot step after Richard Kennar had flopped a ball inside just before he was bundled into touch. In an apparent flash, Tweed had gone from 6-0 ahead to 24-6 behind with the call on the strip of Macklin and McGrady’s over-cooked kick-off crucial to the big momentum shift.
An error at the play the ball just two tackles into the second half gave Tweed a golden chance to get back into the game and they took advantage of it when dummy half Liam Hampton took the gamble to take a dart close to the line on the last tackle and was able to twist his body free of defenders and cross.
Sexton’s goal made it 22-12 but, again, an error at the kick-off sunk Tweed when they least needed it. Jack Glossop lost the ball returning the kick-off and Wynnum second-rower Kalolo Saitaua spun out of a tackle on the second and crossed, to quickly restore Wynnum’s 16-point lead at 28-12.
Tweed had two chances in the next 15 minutes to draw closer without success. The first was when Lee Turner’s foot went touch in goal after he followed through a Will Brimson grubber on the left and the other was when a pass from Treymain Spry to the unmarked Mackin was forward.
Wynnum iced victory when Hoeter crossed for his third try when he snatched a short line-drop out from Hampson, twisted and turned and ran 10 metres to the in-goal.
Tweed, typically, refused to buckle despite knowing their season was about to end and they were rewarded with a try to Daniel Robson from a McGrady grubber before Berrell picked up his second try four minutes from the end after another long-range effort by Wynnum.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 40 (D Hoeter 3, J Berrell 2, F Kalisolaite-Tualau, K Saitaua tries; Campagnolo 6 goals) def. TWEED SEAGULLS 18 (J Compain, L Hampson, D Ross tries; Sexton 3 goals) at Suncorp Stadium.
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