‘Could have been more’: Dolphins claim upset over rivals, not done yet in race to GCDRU finals
Tables were turned in round 9 of GCDRU first grade, two teams opening the second half of their season with retaliation victories from the week prior. We unpack the top talking points as the run to finals begins. Full story inside:
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Tables were turned in round 9 of GCDRU first grade, two teams opening the second half of their season with retaliation victories from the week prior.
The Dolphins walked away with a win at home against the reigning premier Knights while the Pirates made sure Coomera knew who was boss.
And while PBC and Eagles remained 0 from 2, Nerang continued to celebrate its undefeated streak.
We unpack the top talking points from round 9 as the run to finals begins.
Dolphins level tab with Knights
Surfers Paradise coach Johnny Ngauamo breathed a sigh of relief when his Dolphins got the better of Griffith Uni Colleges Knights (37-31) in round 9, after conceding a 32-18 loss the week prior.
While Colleges went over first, and third Dolphins were quick to level each time before gaining a converted try advantage late in the second half.
“It was just one of those games … a funny game.
“We tossed and turned but managed to get it together in the last 10 minutes and held them off,” Ngauamo said.
“We made too many mistakes and the score could have been more, we’ve just got to cut those out.
“You think you’re on the right track, then some weeks don’t go to plan and other weeks everything does.”
The Dolphins’ round 8 loss was also their first clash with Knights since last year’s grand final – where they’d fallen short a second time in-a-row.
Ngauamo said the bitter result sparked extra motivation throughout the week.
“The boys have been working hard on their skills but they just started to believe in themselves.”
Now past the halfway point of the season, it’s time to crack down.
“We’re slowly building towards the finals.
“Just got to keep at it,” he said.
It was a less fruitful feeling on the Knights side, with coach Shaun Cole honest in his disappointment.
Without skipper Jaye Paton, Connor Kennedy stepped up to the challenge, before going down with a knee injury which will see him sidelined for six weeks.
“Our defensive effort was really poor last week,” Cole said.
“(I’m) not happy in the slightest … I have been overall pleased with our defence for the most part this year but last week wasn’t up to scratch.”
Still placed second on the ladder, Cole said his Knights would need to switch on to finish the season strong ahead of finals.
“The biggest thing is that we need all 23 players switched on every week.
“All it takes is two or three players to be off the pace with their effort and it makes it harder on everyone,” he said.
“The comp is going to be tight this year but we just have to stick together keep showing up at training and we know what we can produce come finals time.
“It’s a good thing that we take losses so hard because it shows how much we care.”
To’a scores hat-trick in loss
It wasn’t all bad news on the Knights bench however, with Devontay To’a scoring a hat-trick.
To’a was the first to go over before Dolphins retaliated.
He went on to score the side’s third and fourth tries after Jack O’Shaughnessy, all of which converted by Jordan Maher.
It’s To’a’s first hat-trick of the season – in fact the first Knight to do so in first grade.
Bond get revenge on Crushers
In similar fashion to the Dolphins, Bond Pirates managed to level their tally with the Coomera Crushers on home soil with a 20-18 victory.
Tristan Oeschger and Mason King scored their two tries, both converted by Fergus McKeon who also capitalised on two penalty conversions.
It comes after suffering a 22-5 loss in round 8 which jeopardised the side’s sixth place position.
For Coomera it was Henry Tetini who found the line on both occasions before converting one of his own.
The win makes no difference to the ladder, but the Pirates remain just one point shy of Coomera and seven points clear of PBC in eighth.
Nerang a mile ahead
The Nerang Bulls continued their winning streak against the Eagles, taking their record to 8-0 and steering nine points clear of second placed on the ladder.
There were small changes made to the on-field roster, but coach Te Ari Mahuri said it was simply a collective effort from his versatile squad.
“We knew Eagles would throw everything and the kitchen sink at us and they sure did.
“The score really didn’t reflect the game as eagles really did test us,” he said.
“They’re in the top 4 for a reason, they’re not here to make up numbers and to be honest, it’s really nice to see.”
Despite holding a considerable lead over Knights (2nd) and Dolphins (3rd), Mahuri said the Bulls haven’t reached full potential yet.
“We haven’t played a full 80 mins and that is what the goal will be over the next coming weeks.
“We as a club are really excited about our run into semis and cannot wait for the challenges ahead,” he said.
Admittedly, the biggest learning curve of the Bulls’ side of the fence has been keeping a level head.
“Nobody cares about a round 2 or round 9 win … the big one is the maturity,” Mahuri said.
“You look around our shed and we would have to be one of the youngest first grade teams in the comp, so a few hard truths were said at the start of the season and all the boys knew they had to ‘buy in’ to succeed.”
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Originally published as ‘Could have been more’: Dolphins claim upset over rivals, not done yet in race to GCDRU finals
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