Ormeau coach Julius Kuresa believes his team can still make Rugby League Gold Coast finals

Ormeau mentor Julius Kuresa is adamant his side is still in the race to feature in the Rugby League Gold Coast play-offs this season.

ORMEAU mentor Julius Kuresa is adamant his side is still in the race to feature in the Rugby League Gold Coast play-offs this season.

Kuresa’s call might seem bold for a club that went winless through the previous two A-grade seasons and has a one-from-seven record in 2019 but Ormeau again showed vast improvement in a 22-18 loss to Tugun on Sunday.

The Shearers dug deep after lapses saw them fall 16 points behind at one stage in the second half and they finished the game attacking the tryline in search of a matchwinner.

“I’m just glad that we are competing. We didn’t chuck in the towel and we came within a whisker of winning,” Kuresa said.

Anthony Gray charges forward for Ormeau. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Gosling

“I’ll be honest, and we had the same last year, it’s hard to hold onto guys when we’re not winning so we’ve lost quite a few players. But in saying that, the core that we have got here is quite a good core that we can build on.

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“That second win is not too far away, I’m confident of that.

“And we know that we’re still not that far off … there’s still that fifth spot. There are three teams (fighting for it) and it’s a longer season.”

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Tugun hold fifth place – the cut-off for finals – but are still just three competition points ahead. Bilambil are sixth with a 1-5 record.

Ormeau coach Julius Kuresa. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Gosling

The core Kuresa spoke of centres around captain Jesse Malcolm, who played 80 minutes in the front-row on Sunday, and Parahi Wilson, who threatened to offload with every touch.

Tye Barry offers plenty from fullback while second-rower Caleb Pirini is a handful on the right edge. Pirini opened Ormeau’s account against Tugun off a sublime ball from A-grade debutant halfback Leighmon Hohaia Katene.

RLGC takes a break this weekend with the representative Gold Coast Vikings team in action; the Shearers’ next opponent is Bilambil on May 26.