Dudley Dotoi and Ragarive Wavik lit up round 2 of Meninga Cup
One is already signed by the North Queensland Cowboys and the other is “very much’’ in the club’s sights after Dudley Dotoi and Ragarive Wavik lit up round 2 of the Meninga Cup.
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One is already signed by the North Queensland Cowboys and the other is “very much’’ in the club’s sights after Dudley Dotoi and Ragarive Wavik lit up round 2 of the Meninga Cup
The Kirwan SHS alumni Dotoi and Wavik scorched in six tries between them in a thrilling effort for the Townsville Blackhawks against Northern Pride at Barlow Park.
The boys are teenage excitement machines who have the North Queensland tongues wagging and they maintained the hype in round 2 during their team’s 66-0 win.
Blackhawks coach Stephen Sheppard said Waivk had been secured by the Cowboys while Dotoi, who only burst onto the scene last year, was “very much in the Cowboys’ sights’’.
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Fullback Wavik scored three tries himself within the space of 19 minutes midway through the match as he feasted off momentum given to him by his forwards and halves.
Captained by Luke Jack, Blackhawks also got plenty out of their bench players.
At Langlands Park, Trae Bennetto shone on debut as Norths went on with the job to beat the Tigers 42-20, although the Tigers did improve in the second half after trailing 24-4 at the break.
Devils coach Kevin Neighbour was delighted with his team’s defence.
“It is very easy when you do it against yourselves (at training) and you can manufacture situations, but when it is live, what is coming at you is not exactly what you plan for,’’ he explained.
“We did a lot of work on markers, A and B defenders, a lot of work on the basics of tackling.’’
Bennetto kicked five goals to garnish his debut effort after being called in as a replacement player midweek. “He came in on Wednesday and trained very, very well,’’ Neighbour said.
He said Junior Taungatua played a tough match.
Brisbane Tigers coach Isaac Kauufman said his team’s second half - when Tea-Rani Woodman Tuhoro, Jackson Chang and Zack Lamont scored - was better and they never stopped trying.
“We just have to build on a bit of discipline because we are giving away too many penalties.’’
He praised halfback Zack Lamont, winger Rickson Aliva, centre Teapo Stoltman while Jackson Barling and Tyson Stanley had good moments.
At Wynnum, the Seagulls got home 26-16 in a tremendous bayside derby.
Wynnum scored first after Braydon Seu-Easthope plunged over, then Jonathan Maller responded for the Dolphins just two minutes from halftime to reduce the margin.
Wynnum inched ahead in the arm wrestle when Jayden Elder crossed three minutes into the second half while Haizyn Mellars scored the first of his two tries.
It was a close, tight tussle between the traditional bayside rivals and while Wynnum always had its nose in front, it was never beyond Redcliffe’s reach.
Caleb Pfingst’s try in the 42nd minute turned the heat up in the clash.
Cooper Hewat then positioned Wynnum with a handy 14 point lead, but true to form Redcliffe came back when Pfingst dashed over for his second try.
“Reddy are big and well drilled and well coached,’’ praised Wynnum Manly coach Jesse Maclean.
Maclean was delighted with back-to-back wins but noted “we kept giving silly penalties away and could not get momentum.
“We were also flat to start with but I liked how we got better as the game went on. The kids are learning.’’
Maclean said Luke Philp was outstanding for the side while in the middle Kienan Tempest worked hard against bigger opponents.
He said fullback Jayden Elder also had a good match and was “improving all the time’’.
Redcliffe coach Wade Hadley said he was happy with the start and early intent. “We attacked the game,’’ he said.
He said his young players did extremely well in this period, but as the match progressed, as a group, Hadley said he was happy please with contact or the intent to win the tackles.
Hadley said Drew Timms played 70 minutes in the middle and displayed good leadership throughout, while Tuhirangi Ratana-Leef was outstanding with his defence in the middle.
He said for the second week in a row Guireh Brooks was outstanding in defence
At the Kawana Sports Complex, home side the Sunshine Coast Falcons produced a 10 try onslaught against the Bulls, but Falcons coach Danny Gray dipped his lid to the Wide Bay boys.
“They (Bulls) tried really hard and competed to the end and never gave up,’’ Gray said.
Falcons Mason Peut started the roll toward victory after crossing in the fourth minute, and then back-to-back tries within the space of two minutes of each other by Oska Boyd and Elliot Smethills put the side on the road to victory.
Ryan Hargreaves and Mitchell Jennings then crossed again before halftime and the match seemed safe. Falcons went on to win 50-4.
Gray said Peut had a very busy match off the back of momentum laid by his middle forwards.
Peut came down the middle and around the edges after No.13 Harry Dwyer, props Blake Woodford and Jack Underhill and dummy half Oska Boyd had put their side onto the front foot.
“When we stuck to the game plan our middle forwards did a really good job,’’ Gray said.
Capras Meninga Cup coach Kane Hardy was displeased with his team’s performance despite winning 34-12 over Mustangs at Wandoan.
“Our completions need to improve. We need to be patient and wait for our opportunities,’’ Hardy said.
Hardy had high praise for Mitch Biddulph and Riley Hall who played the entire match either on the edge or in the middle.
Peyton Jenkins also scored two tries – one each either side of halftime, while Kalani Sing, the son of Queensland State of Origin great Matt Sing, scored the last try of the match.
For the Mustangs, Tyson Stevens and Matthew Wilson scored first half tries.
Mustangs coach Brendan Wilson said his team did well locked 12-all at halftime, but “they got away from us in the second half with us not controlling the ball and making simple errors’’.
Best for Mustangs were props Xavier Va’a, the captain, and Kelly Shadlow.
The Burleigh Bears had a resounding win over the Ipswich Jets 44-16 at the North Ipswich Reserve.
Bears coach Michael Witt said his side produced an eye-catching first half performance to lead 3-6.
“We started poorly letting the first try in, but I was impressed with the way we controlled the game after that.’’
But asked where his side could improve, Witt said: “We took our foot off a little bit (in the second half).
“We need to improve our consistency and game control, but on the whole it was a good performance.’’
Witt said his halfback Jye Gray was outstanding and backed up his round 1 effort, while centre Hunter Ploegsma, who was a late call-up, did very well.
Jets coach Michael Armstrong was bitterly disappointed with his team’s defence, particularly after being happy with that aspect of their play in round 1.
“We need to work on our defence because having 40 plus points scored on us is way too many.’’
Armstrong said while he did not have an outstanding player, his solid performers were his starting middle players Josiah Pahulu, Xavier Stowers and Samson Sauaso and interchange players Peniata Poutasi and Jaeden Foua.
At Davies Park this afternoon, it was beach suiting the Tweed Seagulls who stormed from behind to defeat home side Souths Logan 32-24.
The scores were locked at 18-all at halftime after Tweed Heads fought back strongly with two late tries after trailing by two converted tries.
Tweed then smashed the match wide open early in the second half with a sizzling start to score two tries, one by Campbell Watchirs and another a lovely left hand raid that saw fullback Jaylan De Groot find space and glide his way in under the posts.
At 30-18 in baking heat, Souths Logan had to be the next to score and while they did muster a try, Tweed’s defence was outstanding the further the match progressed.
Although there were 56 points scored, Seagulls tackling toward the end of the second half, when Souths Logans controlled ball for three sets, was a big moment in the game.
The key to both teams’s early performance was discipline with the football. Errors littered the opening 25 minutes, with Souths Logan the first of the teams to settle.
When the Magpies’ errors dried up, 18 successive points flowed.
Fullback Aiden Severns found his way to the line after halve Ezra Mam had beautifully read the blindside after a quick play the ball.
Powerhouse right edge backrower for Souths Edward Finua then trampled his way to the line, while No.13 Chris Faagutu also powered his way over after three charges in four tackles at the tryline by interchange forward Sione Fotoaika.
With his team moving forward in this period, Magpies’ five-eight Mam looked a class above as Souths Logan established a 18-6 advantage.
But a turning point came immediately after Faagutu’s try when Tweed halfback Tom Weave cleverly found the dead ball line from the kick-off after Mam was running back into position after converting Faagutu’s try.
With Souths Logan’s momentum snapped, Tweed then built their own pressure resulting in lanky edge backrower Ryan Foran striding over.
Then, on the cusp of halftime, Tweed No.6 Harradyn Wilson made it another try and within the blink of an eye it was 18-all.
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