All the talking points from Rugby League Gold Coast round 3 action

Broken bones and a powerful Tiger stretchered off while a personal record was realised in a try-scoring bonanza. All the major talking points from RLGC round three.

Troy Canning played a great game for Tugun in round three. Pic Mike Batterham

Currumbin was held scoreless while one man dazzled with five tries.

There were no shortage of storylines in Rugby League Gold Coast round 3.

In case you missed it, catch up on the round two talking points here, and discover this week’s below.

Nasty injury hits Southport

The Tigers win came at a cost, with key player Ben Thomas set to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.

Thomas injured his ankle in the win against Runaway Bay and had to be stretchered from the field. He’s set to go for scans in the coming days but until then how long he will be ruled out for remains unknown.

A Vikings representative, Thomas will be a significant loss for Southport, with his power, speed, and in particular his mammoth workload set to be sorely missed.

Burleigh’s turnaround

A 30-point loss is never a nice pill to swallow.

Once it’s happened, all you can do is focus on turning it around next week. The cliche rang true for Burleigh over the weekend. After a 34-4 shellacking at the hands of Southport, it returned the favour to Currumbin to run away 30-0 victors on the road.

The key differences in the way the Bears played was both their attitude in defence and ability to retain the footy, with a much-improved completion rate punctuating the triumph.

Shannon Gardiner was one of the Bears top performers, with the hooker putting in an exceptional shift and defending well. Did his hopes of a Hostplus Cup call-up no harm.

Undermanned Currumbin scoreless

On the other side of the coin, Currumbin is now the side with some soul-searching to do after the disappointing showing in which they were held scoreless.

It marks an up-and-down start to the season for the Eagles, who claimed a rare away win to Tugun 36-30 to kick off their campaign last week.

The Eagles were disjointed but despite the tough loss, it’s worth noting a mix of injury, unavailability and Hostplus Cup call-ups forced the Eagles into eight changes from their round two side, with Jayden Wright called up to play for Tweed and Kalin Ropata the Ipswich Jets. Their woes were compounded when they lost Michael Burgess to a jaw injury and Caleb Warman to concussion and a broken wrist.

Amid the injury chaos, Reece Butler and Dion Henry were called up to the side having already played the reserve-grade game prior, and when more injuries occurred in-game, the plan for each to play only 10 to 15 minutes was thrown out the window.

The match also marked boom recruit Joel Thompson’s first game for the club.

Former NRL star Joel Thompson played his RLGC game with the Currumbin Eagles having signed for them earlier this year. Picture Glenn Hampson

High five for Canning, Elgey the architect

Throughout the entirety of his life, Troy Canning had never scored more than two tries in a game.

That all changed on Sunday as Tugun put Helensvale to the sword with a comprehensive 54-18 victory, with Canning crossing the stripe with success an astounding five times.

The left wing’s performance was great and his finishing faultless, but he was also the beneficiary of Kane Elgey’s brilliant work, with the former NRL player racking up the try assists.

Elgey’s kicking game was also much improved after a round one display that was below what he’s capable of. His bombs forced drops from the Helensvale fullback early and kickstarted a run of momentum that rarely halted.

Second-rower James Torrens also played a great game for Tugun, scoring two tries and setting up another. Torrens was damaging and he carried the ball well, but his performance was also boosted by Elgey who he had playing inside him and who gave him plenty of freedom.

Kane Elgey playing for the Manly Sea Eagles. He’s been a pivotal pick up for Tugun, and is improving many players around him. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

The ultimate professional

Adding to the convincing nature of Tugun’s 54-18 triumph over Helensvale was the smarts of captain Will Johnstone.

Johnstone doubles as the team’s coach, and quelled whatever momentum Helensvale could scrap by engaging in deep discussions with the referee and killing time.

Halfback Johnstone described it as the benefit of having the coach on the field, and it no doubt compounded Helensvale’s frustrations.

The Hornets are winless from two games but played in a draw with Runaway Bay last week, and still crossed for four tries despite the heavy defeat.

William Johnstone of Tugun Seahawks. Photo: Regi Varghese

Mr fix it

Liam Wilson’s A-grade debut was one to remember for Runaway Bay. The 23-year-old started at fullback and set up a try early against Southport, and after leaving the field due to a knock in the ribs, he would return in the second-half as a makeshift hooker and score a try himself.

The Seagulls called upon him to plug whatever holes they needed in a 32-22 defeat at the hands of the Tigers, and Wilson did so aptly.

Wilson spent the bulk of his life in New Zealand after playing juniors for the Seagulls, and returned to the club upon his move back to the Gold Coast ahead of this season. He was called up to the A-grade squad in place of first-choice fullback Ezra Walker - who’s only 19 - as he was unavailable.

Runaway Bay also entered the clash with no recognised hooker, as one was still battling serious concussion side effects while Zane Lothian is recovering from a peculiar cut that led to him needing eight stitches in his eyelid.

The Seagulls were once again let down by their completion rate, going at around 40 per cent in the early stages of the game and being left to rue a number of costly errors, such as when Southport’s lead was just two points with 20 minutes remaining and the ball was dropped on the second tackle of an attacking set.

Despite only two rounds being played, Southport’s win means they are the only team to have won both of their games.