Five tries for one: The best performances from GCDRU round 10 revealed, coaches reveal inner thoughts
With a bye on the horizon, round 10 of the Gold Coast rugby season included stellar performances from a number of premiership-contenders. Here from the coaches on how it played out. Full story inside:
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With a bye on the horizon, round 10 of the Gold Coast rugby season included stellar performances from a number of premiership-contenders.
From a 60-point demolition to a nail-biting finish, catch up on the biggest headlines of the round.
Dolphins escape Pirates clash
The Surfers Paradise Dolphins edged out Bond Pirates, securing a 28-22 win in the final minutes.
“It was just one of the games where the boys had to figure out how to win,” Surfers Paradise’s Johnny Ngauamo said.
“We said at the beginning that Pirates, even though they’re a young team, they’ll get their backs up.”
The Dolphins’ coach was quick to praise the opposition.
“We made it hard for ourselves but credit to Bond, they played well.
“That’s nearly the best I’ve seen them play and they really came out and stuck it to us,” he said.
“We had a lot of ball but just couldn’t turn it into points … Bond defending well.
“We just don’t always put ourselves in the situation where we can … do a lot of dumb things.”
Fatigue in the second half looked to put a strain on both side’s defence, though tenacity in the final 10 minutes is what got the Dolphins over the line with a final try courtesy of Milan Cookson.
“We’ve trained to play like that … they’re not just flukes those tries,” Ngauamo said.
On a less impressive note, Ngauamo called out what he deemed poor behaviour of spectators who allegedly abused the referee.
“That’s a no-go.
“These touch judges and referees are all volunteers,” he said.
“There’s a big push from Rugby Australia … for all that sort of stuff, regardless of the call or if you don’t see it that way, you can’t do that.”
And when it comes to banter directed at the players themselves, Ngauamo is happy with how his boys manage.
“The boys have played enough rugby these days, they just need to block it out and focus on the game.”
The win may have given Surfers two points, but Ngauamo knows the little mistakes can creep up at this point of the season.
Hence, his training plan will be back to basics ahead of round 12:
“(We’ll) just learn to catch and pass … real hard stuff.”
50+ point wins for Bulls, Hogs
There were two standout scores of the round – Helensvale Hogs’ 60-0 win over Coomera Crushers and Nerang Bulls’ 62-5 victory over PBC Alleygators.
For Helensvale, centre Jaxon Arnold and fullback Hayden McCaa scored doubles while Dane Mason, Daniel Stowers and Xavier McEldowney also crossed.
Tyler Maxwell kicked seven conversions from eight attempts and, under fatigue, adding two penalty goals to his count.
The performance of the round – and perhaps the performance of the season – went to Bulls’ Joshua Edmond.
The speedy centre flew out of the gates from the get-go, notching up an awe-inducing five tries.
With a total seven Bulls making their way onto the score sheet despite playing two-men short for 25 minutes due to injury, coach Te Ari Mahuri had plenty to celebrate.
He still found time to credit the Alleygators
He admitted the scoreline didn’t reflect PBC’s hard work.
“Palmy did compete, but the bounce of the ball really did go our way,” he said.
“They’re a very young team and will be a force in the next coming seasons.”
The highly anticipated father/son duo of Kyle and CT Turei was the only thing that didn’t go to plan.
“What I had envisioned throughout the week was CT with a break, pass to Kyle out wide then Kyle back to CT to score under the sticks.
“Instead, Kyle got injured just after his father got his boarding pass (to go on the field),” Mahuri said.
The pair played 10 minutes together, still a very special moment and something the Turei family can walk away proud of.
Knights find winning form
The Griffith Uni Colleges Knights found themselves back on the winners list in round 10, defeating the Gold Coast Eagles 36-10.
Despite the success, coach Shaun Coles said the score didn’t tell the story.
“Eagles came to play, they were fired up after their second grade got the win against us and they scored the first try.
“(They) had us under some pressure,” Cole said.
It was at that point Griffith Uni kicked into their game plan, managing a clean and clinical final 20 minutes of the first half which put them up by three tries and feeling comfortable.
But the job wasn’t done, Cole admitted old habits slipped through the cracks.
“We were penalised pretty heavily and Eagles got off to a good start.
“But once again we kicked into gear, we rounded out the game as the strongest.”
Cole credited the efforts of skipper Jaye Paton and Man of the Match Taniela Tuivanuavou.
“(Tuivanuavou) really stood up defensively and I thought he really solidified our defensive line,” he said.
The was welcomed by all Knights, who had gone down to the Dolphins in round 9.
“We love winning and I love seeing the boys with a smile on the face post match.
“Anytime we can execute a plan and get a win it’s a good feeling,” Cole said.
“We’re always looking to improve a little each game and … to keep Eagles to 10 was nice.
“To actually see the boys put into play what we had practised all week makes me proud.”
Max Dempsey dislocated his finger during the match, but in the words of Cole:
“That bloke has the dawg in him.”
He promptly poppedthe dislocated finger back into place and expected to train and play as per usual.
“Other than that we had an injury free weekend for once,” Cole said.
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