Rugby League Gold Coast: A-grade, reserves, under-20, and under-18 grand final wraps
Tugun couldn’t have scripted the day any better as they clinched a pair of historic premierships, while Burleigh and Helensvale also tasted underage success. Full report.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tugun couldn’t have scripted it any better if they tried.
Both the A-grade and reserve-grade premiership were won on home turf, ending longstanding droughts through sheer determination.
The Seahawks’ 18-10 A-grade triumph over arch rival Currumbin in front of a packed Boyd St crowd came in a clash as fiery, fast and gritty as they come.
“That was by far the toughest game I’ve ever played,” said Tugun captain-coach Will Johnstone, who has played his fair share of Queensland Cup footy with the Tweed Seagulls.
“It was really tough in the first half, it kind of slowed down in the second half, but it was physical.
“Joel Thompson was trying to kill people, it was incredible how physical it was.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our boys.”
The Seahawks knew they would be in for a slog, as this Currumbin team had scrapped and fought its way to its first A-grade decider since 2008 with back-to-back two-point wins as it hunted a maiden premiership.
On Saturday, it was Tugun that thrived in the grind to concede just 10 points off the back of a resilient defensive display.
“I thought we were a bit ugly as far as our skill and footy goes today, but we were resilient in defence,” Johnstone said.
“We kept showing up for each other on the goal line and they couldn’t crack us, we were really brave.”
Solomon Torrens and Kody Parsons spearheaded Tugun’s forward pack, while playmakers Kane Elgey and Kyle Williams were immense.
The great Sam Meskell also looked at home at hooker, despite it being his first match in three months as he returned from a nasty wrist injury.
Fullback Williams was cleaning up well at the back for the Seahawks and threatened to break the game open every time he ran the ball.
His offensive exploits resulted in Tugun’s first try when he threw a brilliant cut out pass that sent Bailey Simpson over in the corner.
Elgey passed well and pulled the strings all day in attack for Tugun to earn man of the match honours.
It capped off a brilliant individual season that was made all the more impressive when you consider he hadn’t touched a footy in the five years prior.
For Currumbin, James Busby dazzled at fullback and laid several try-saving tackles close to the line.
He also produced a brilliant individual try of his own for the Eagles in the second-half when he tumbled his way to the line and planted the footy down.
It was Kalin Ropata who opened the scoring for Currumbin when he found a gaping hole to run through.
His side would trail 10-4 at halftime, and Busby’s effort squared the ledger at 10 points apiece momentarily.
Tugun’s Tanu Nona dealt what would be the killer blow when a defensive breakdown allowed him to stride over from a scrum untouched.
To add insult to injury for the Eagles, a careless dropped ball on a possible breakaway had opened the door for the Seahawks in a dangerous position.
Ex-NRL men Kevin Proctor and Joel Thompson were both strong for Currumbin, with Proctor’s plentiful defensive involvements a highlight while Thompson hit hard while Baylen Donald was also very involved.
As the clock ticked toward full-time in the second-half, a desperate Currumbin had set after set after set hounding the Tugun line as it looked to overcome the eight-point deficit that had been established.
You could feel the passage would decide the match.
With every crunching Seahawks tackle that propelled the Eagles’ powerhouse forwards from where they wanted to be, Tugun’s grip on the premiership trophy strengthened, until Johnstone was thrusting it above his head triumphantly.
Five years of angst and heartbreak dissipated from Johnstone in that moment. He was overcome with joy.
It had been a long and treacherous road to the premiership, after all.
“We had some real tough times, to do this now, we’ve been real close the last couple of years, it’s a feeling I can’t explain,” Johnstone said.
He detailed the treacherous 2020 season when Covid shut down the Tugun Leagues Club. He recalled warming up for the final game of that season against Southport with just six A-grade players.
“There was no funding, we had to play for nothing, didn’t get a single match payment, the coaches weren’t paid, we did everything for the love,” he said.
“We were playing against stacked sides because there was no Queensland Cup and we were getting beat by 60 points.”
This premiership is Johnstone’s first with Tugun and the club’s first since 2016, and came off the back of grand final defeats in 2021 and 2023.
“For me, first year as the coach, first year as captain-coach, a lot of people told me not to do it, captain-coach is a really hard job to do both things,’ Johnstone said.
“I’m proud of myself and my achievements.
“I’ve got to thank my wife the most, the amount of time I had to dedicate to footy this year to do this job, it was a lot of time. We had our third child this year, my wife’s a superstar.”
Johnstone is also on the coaching staff at Palm Beach Currumbin State High, who clinched the NRL national schoolboys title in dramatic fashion earlier in the week. ‘One down, two to go,’ he had said on Thursday.
Now that dream has been realised, he believes the time is right to hang up the playing boots and go all in on coaching.
“It’s a good way to end. I’m 33 this year, I’ve got three kids, it’s a sail off into the sunset moment,” Johnstone said.
It means an entirely new halves pairing will be called upon to don the blue and white next season, with Elgey announcing post-game that he was officially retired too.
Johnstone isn’t worried about filling that void, nor does he have to be for some time.
For now, he and the Seahawks are revelling in what the scriptwriters had in store.
“It’s a very fulfilling, relieving feeling now … this is a dream come true,” he said.
“I don’t know how they’ll get these people out of Tugun for the next couple of days.
“There’s going to be people celebrating for days for sure.”
Reserves
Cult figure Keanu Te Kiri was the star for Tugun’s reserves as they clinched the DLC premiership with a convincing 40-16 defeat of Runaway Bay.
Coach Fetuli Talanoa, who played at centre, was thrilled with the efforts of his captain post-game.
“Keanu Te Kiri really steered us around the field, he’s a great leader for us, he kept his composure and just directed us,’ Talanoa said.
Te Kiri managed the Seahawks’ third try of the day with a superb individual effort that transformed a fading set into points. But he was his side’s general all day, pulling the strings and causing plenty of headaches with his kicking game.
A brilliant bomb that soared high from his boot with 20 minutes to play forced a Runaway Bay error that led to a Jake O’Reilly try.
From there, the floodgates had opened as Tugun would pile on 20 unanswered points to secure its first reserves premiership since 2015 and secure the first half of its historic home turf double.
“The build up to this was massive,” Talanoa said.
“It’s been all the talk throughout the year, just to get to the grand final was half the job done and to win on the home ground and bring a reserve grade trophy back to Tugun.”
“Keanu Te Kiri really steered us around the field, he’s a great leader for us, he kept his composure and just directed us.”
Under-20s
Burleigh stamped its authority on a dominant under-20s season with a crushing 40-10 defeat of Runaway Bay in the grand final.
Despite conceding the first three tries, the Seagulls fought back late in the opening half to trail 14-4 at the break, but it was one-way traffic in the second half as the Bears piled on the pain and put Bay to the sword.
Five-eighth Will Batten spearheaded the Bears’ surge. He was passing well close to the line and made some good runs out of dummy half and also managed a hat-trick of tries.
Everything Batten touched turned to gold. Take his second try for example where he attempted to dink a grubber behind the Bay line and it ricocheted off a stray leg and straight into his lap to allow him to run over and score.
Centre Teddy Foster also managed a hat-trick, piling on tries in quick succession in the second half to well and truly sink any hope of a Seagulls fightback.
Halfback Kane Bowman didn’t get in on the try-scoring action, but he was equally as impressive, shifting the defence with well-timed passes and runs, and also asking questions with his kicking game.
The premiership was just reward for a dominant Bears outfit that finished the home and away season minor premiers with just one loss all season and a points difference of 226.
Under-18 Division One
Zac Kumbamong reiterated his class with a superb 60-minute shift in the middle to lift Helensvale to the under-18 division one title.
The Hornets downed Southport 28-12 in a convincing win, and Kumbamong was immense to earn man of the match honours.
It capped off a stellar season that saw him earn Queensland Schoolboys selection and extend his contract with the Gold Coast Titans until 2026.
The match had been close on the scoreboard until Disharne Tonihi produced a double in a matter of minutes that turned the game on its head.
The Helensvale forward pack rallied immensely all day against some hulking Southport forwards.
“Our middles were huge,” said Hornets coach Mark Schumarker.
“The first 10 minutes paved the way, I know we let in a try but all we did was tackle and they only scored once, then as soon as we went down the other end we scored and that took the momentum out of their big boys.
“The same thing happened in the second half. It was 15 minutes of tackling, we held them then we scored.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Rugby League Gold Coast: A-grade, reserves, under-20, and under-18 grand final wraps
DAY ONE GALLERY: AFL QLD Schools Cup in Townsville
Check out almost 50 photos and catch up on the action from day one of the AFL Queensland Schools Cup finals in Townsville. Not a subscriber? Join today to watch all of Tuesday’s games live.
MEGA GALLERY: 170+ photos from TSS v TGS rugby union
From First and Second XV stars to emerging talent in the 16As and 15Bs, relive the tackles and tries from The Southport School's GPS rugby clashes against Toowoomba Grammar.