Gold Coast Rugby (GCDRU) Wrap Round Nine: Helensvale Hogs, Palm Beach, Knights power couples and Max Dowd flies high
Hogs outmuscled, Gators set new target, Knights wind back the clock and Pirates make history. this is the Gold Coast Rugby Wrap for May 23.
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PALM Beach Currumbin announced their Gold Coast rugby title contendership with a bang in round nine, blasting 43 points through the defence of second-placed Helensvale to take the biggest scalp of their season.
Understrength Helensvale were ripe for the taking but the ruthless nature of Palm Beach’s win exposed holes not even returning members of that team will fix overnight.
For the first time this year Helensvale were outgunned physically, by a dominant Palm Beach Currumbin pack spearheaded by No.8 Doryaan Hape-Apiata.
That performance upfront laid the platform for winger Corey Morris to score a second half hat-trick as PBC ran away victors 43-7 at Helensvale’s Rugby Lane.
“I thought it would be a lot tougher in the middle but credit to our forwards,” Morris said.
“They turned it on and won every scrum and every lineout and we just looked pretty out the back.
“These last three weeks we’ve had a look at ourselves and knuckled down and asked ourselves, are we here to win the comp or are we here to participate?
“We agreed – we’re here to win the comp. We’re four on the trot now so we’ll start going for the top.”
Helensvale coach Roscoe Deacon said the bye round had arrived at the perfect time for his troops with a host of top talent set to return for a critical match against Colleges the following weekend.
Injuries cruelled any chance at victory on Saturday, both leading in to the match and then throughout it, as first choice flyhalf Keahn Tipu left the match after 30 minutes to be replaced by third grade regular Grant Davies.
When fullback Logan Watene left the field nursing an injured shoulder in the second half things went from bad to worse.
After getting flattened in a tackle No.8 Reno Gerrard found his fire for Helensvale, shifting out to the centres and inflicting pain on any runner who dared cross his channel.
At Coomera Sports Park, four tries to centre Josefa Lalabalavu inspired Bond Pirates to their biggest win in eight years, 56-3.
It was the first time Bond had reached a half-century of points in almost four years and the club’s largest margin of victory since defeating Surfers Paradise 62-0 in 2013.
Flyhalf Lepau Feau converted a perfect eight-from-eight goals and scored a try to amass 21 points, coming within four of equalling the season’s single-game record set by Helensvale’s Scott Stokes.
Griffith University Colleges Knights dispatched Gold Coast Eagles 71-0 on the club’s Ladies Day, with players emotionally charged after walking on to the field arm-in-arm with their mothers and partners.
The Eagles defended capably for 20 minutes but could not sustain that effort as Colleges ran in 11 tries to notch the competition’s biggest win since Round 11, 2019.
Halfback Cam Dodd scored a hat-trick as did winger Blake Griffin, who reclaimed top spot as Gold Coast’s leading tryscorer with 14 from nine games.
At Surfers Paradise, Nerang fell behind 10-0 after 10 minutes but regrouped to post 51 unanswered points.
POWER COUPLES OF THE KNIGHTS
TWO years after meeting her partner Tereina McLean at the Griffith Uni Colleges Knights rugby club’s annual Ladies Day, Sarah Weston is now the driving force behind the club’s first foray into women’s Rugby Sevens.
On Saturday the Knights celebrated the women of the club; the mothers, partners, sisters, daughters and, for the first time, its female players as well.
Weston, 32, is team co-ordinator and one half of a rugby power couple with first grade prop McLean, who helps coach the team with teammate Richard Kingi, whose partner Sharna has also pulled on the boots.
“Tee and Richie, being the coaches, are really involved especially with the tackling,” Weston said.
“(McLean) loves to try give me little tips as I come off the field, especially in scrumming because that’s his thing.
“Often at training he likes to go harder at me than the others.
“When the other girls run he’ll tackle them really gently or let them knock him down but he’ll knock me flat every chance he gets! He’s so mean.
“Sharna and Richie are exactly the same – Sharna is always saying ‘step aside Richie, it’s my time!”
Weston said the family dynamic, with mothers training with their sons and daughters, had been a real highlight of joining the team.
“We have a massive range of ages where our youngest player is 18 and our oldest is 45,” Weston said.
“The kids really get involved, either playing with each other or tackling their mums and trying to take the ball off them.”
The first GCDRU women’s sevens tournament of the season will begin on Sunday but Weston said coaches had already accepted sick notes from the team.
“It’s Ladies Day on Saturday so we’ll probably be way too hungover to play this round,” Weston joked.
RUGBY UNION RECRUITMENT POWER PLAY
A LOWER grades rugby union recruitment war broke out on social media this week when the coach of one third grade side put out the call for new players.
His post was quickly hijacked by the president of the club’s arch-rivals, who slipped interested players the training location and time for his club instead.
Former Bond University Premier Grade prop Israel Rapata expressed his desire to play while former Australian Schoolboys rugby league fullback Henare Wells – who forced James Tedesco to the wing in 2010 – was also sounded out.
BOND WINGER WAVES GOODBYE TO INJURY
BOND University winger and Bundjalung man Max Dowd is flying high after leaving behind the injury curse that robbed him of two of his last three Queensland Premier Rugby pre-seasons.
Dowd, 21, has been making up for lost time ever since an ankle syndesmosis injury in 2018 and a broken jaw in 2019 saw him miss out on valuable opportunities to develop his craft.
After 10 weeks on the wing for Bond’s Premier Grade side, Dowd (pictured) is enjoying his longest injury-free stint since captaining The Southport School to the 2017 GPS rugby premiership.
His seven tries in eight games are the equal-most at the club and have helped Bond to third on the table at the season’s halfway point.
Dowd is the only player with Indigenous heritage in his team and one of only a handful of Indigenous players in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition.
That is one reason why he has next month’s match against undefeated University of Queensland circled on the calendar.
Aside from being a top-of-the-table clash and a likely finals preview, Bond will wear an Indigenous jersey design for the first time to celebrate NAIDOC week.
“I’m really excited for it,” Dowd said.
“The club has been wanting to do it since last year but because of Covid it fell through.”
Dowd said although he was still learning about his culture, he took inspiration from women’s players Miah O’Sullivan and Tshinta Kentall, who lead the way at the Robina university campus.
GOLD COAST RUGBY WRAP ROUND FIVE, MAY 24
BOND Pirates have steamrolled the Surfers Paradise Dolphins under the weight of a fearsome driving maul, snapping a 14-game losing streak against that opposition stretching back to 2016.
It was a win more than 2000 days in waiting for Bond, which has found its backbone in 2021 after back-to-back wooden spoon seasons in Gold Coast rugby union.
Warhorse No.8 Bradley Plant scored a hat-trick from the cockpit of the Pirates maul, including an 80th-minute 13-man shove to seal the drought-breaking victory at Pizzey Park, 36-28.
After falling 22-21 to Palm Beach Currumbin in the first round the Pirates have embarked on a three-game winning streak, their longest since 2017.
Young scrumhalf Tana Heron, 16, enjoyed a perfect day from the tee with four conversions and two penalties.
Surfers centre Indiha Saotui-Huta crossed for a hat-trick in the losing side to join competition leading tryscorer Blake Griffin (Colleges) on seven after five rounds.
At Rugby Lane, Helensvale’s hot-pink Ladies Day strip served as a matador’s red flag as the Hogs ran the Nerang Bulls ragged, winning the second half four tries to nil after trailing 17-12 at halftime.
That 34-20 win will keep the second-placed Hogs within striking range of undefeated Colleges, who overcame a slow start to defeat Palm Beach Currumbin 24-0 at Bienvenue Drive
GCDRU ROUND THREE POWER RANKINGS
Reigning Helensvale player of the year Whitney Ueta-Siteine crossed for a try in each half to lead all scorers on the day.
The absence of star centre Lausii Taliauli through injury didn’t slow the Gold Coast’s top try-scoring side but he did slip behind teammates Reno Gerrard and Keahn Tipu on the season leaderboard.
Nerang flankers Tom Coombs and Tazzy Jones scored the Bulls’ two tries while fullback Josh Whitley added 10 points from two conversions and two penalty goals.
At James Overell Park a double to star back Tyrell Forbes led Coomera to a 35-12 victory 35-12 over the Eagles.
Sonny McBride scored a fine solo try and converted a perfect five-from-five for a 15-point individual haul to join Forbes on the scoresheet.
Winger Joseph Bax and centre Carl Gooch scored for the Gold Coast Eagles.
FOUR TRIES IN 13 MINUTES: SURFERS TO CALL UP RESERVE GRADE WEAPON
SURFERS Paradise is set to launch reserve grade winger Dylan Townsend into the most important match of the season next weekend after notching his first career hat-trick in just 13 minutes.
Townsend scorched the Bond Pirates defence for four tries in total during a 55-7 second-grade rugby demolition job at Pizzey Park, with three falling inside 15 minutes of kick-off.
Like all great wingers his timing is impeccable because an injury to first-grade centre Josh Hill means a wing spot has just become available.
Surfers manager Darren Saunders said Townsend’s big day had put him front of mind for coaches as a home clash with Helensvale looms.
“It’s probably the best I’ve ever seen him play,” Saunders said. “He’s played a few games in first grade before, mostly as a flanker, but he was always pretty quick and had good hands.
“I reckon both of our wingers will be looking over their shoulder now, especially with Josh picking up an injury.”
Saunders believes Townsend has more tries left in him but his greatest asset for the team may come without the ball in his hands.
Helensvale has scored more tries than any club through five weeks of competition so defensive starch is a must for the player joining a reshuffled Surfers backline.
That’s another tick in Townsend’s box, said Saunders.
“He brings some aggression in defence,” he said.
“He breaks that mould of wingers who are good with the ball but useless without it.”
THE BIRD RETURNS
NERANG is preparing to welcome back excitement machine fullback Will Bird from injury as early as next week in a significant boost for the Bulls.
Bird suffered a fracture to the fourth metacarpal in his right hand in a pre-season trial against Wests on April 10.
His estimated six-week recovery period elapsed Saturday as his Bulls fell 34-20 to Helensvale in Gold Coast rugby union.
Nerang has experimented with three fullbacks in five weeks attempting to fill the void left by the attacking dynamo to no great success.
Bird’s return will solve that puzzle.
BULL SHARKS CLIMBING
BOND University has moved within a game of second place on the Brisbane Premier Rugby ladder after surviving a fast-finishing Wests Bulldogs team to prevail 33-27 in round seven.
Bond had victory all but sewn up in the 60th minute with a 33-10 lead when Wests, third on the ladder to Bond’s fourth, found their footing in the match.
Bond’s lead proved just enough as Wests piled on 17 points in the final quarter of the match.
The Bull Sharks will climb to third overall with victory over Brothers in Brisbane next Saturday, with Wests and GPS (2nd) facing off at Sylvan Rd.
A SURPRISE DEBUT
WALLABIES scrum coach Petrus du Plessis made his Bond University rugby debut Saturday, appearing off the bench in a 42-27 second grade victory over Wests.
Du Plessis, 39, never officially hung up the boots after almost 200 matches in the UK with Saracens, London Irish and Glasgow Warriors.
Now based on the Gold Coast with the Wallabies staff, du Plessis answered a scrum SOS from Bond to lace up the boots again.
Relieving Vili Apelu at halftime, du Plessis put together a polished 35 minutes before heading up the M1 to watch the Queensland Reds lose 63-28 to the Crusaders.
PROP STANDS ABOVE THE REST
BOND University’s third grade rugby side suffered its worst defeat of the season, shipping 10 tries to undefeated Wests at Robina.
Inside centre Ruan Peter crossed for three tries as did hooker Hunter Thomas in a 64-0 shellacking on Saturday.
There were few bright sparks for the home team but it is far from alone in its suffering because no team has come within double digits of the Bulldogs since round two.
Prop Andrew Martyn played 70 minutes in a team-best performance while exciting under-20 Aisea Aholelei, the nephew of ex-Melbourne Rebels bookend Eti, made his senior debut from the bench.
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March 27 Fixtures:
2.30pm - Gold Coast Eagles v Brisbane Irish @ Brisbane Irish
3.00pm - Bond Pirates v Casino Bulls @ Casino Bulls
3.00pm - Palm Beach Currumbin Alleygators v Warwick Water Rats @ Warwick
3.00pm - Griffith Uni Colleges Knights v Melbourne Unicorns @ Gold Coast Eagles
3.15pm - Helensvale Hogs v Brisbane Irish @ Brisbane Irish
4.00pm - Helensvale Hogs v Gold Coast Eagles @ Brisbane Irish
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