Gold Coast Rugby Power Rankings: June 22
Bulletin rugby scribe Nic Darveniza updates the Gold Coast’s senior rugby union power rankings, judging every senior team from 1-23.
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Bulletin rugby scribe Nic Darveniza updates the Gold Coast’s senior rugby union power rankings from 1-23.
1. Bond University (1st)
Last position: 1
Still on top. Bond University remain in the thick of a first Queensland Premier Rugby title for Gold Coast since the Alec Evans glory days in 2004.
Once their defensive shortcomings are ironed out Bond have the strike power to challenge even undefeated University of Queensland.
2. Bond University (2nd)
Last position: 2
With five wins from 10 and 10 bonus points Bond’s Reserve Grade side mirror their Hospital Cup counterparts on the ladder, sitting third.
Three teams sit four or fewer points behind them so Bond is still only one potential loss away from tumbling down to sixth.
3.Griffith Uni Colleges Knights (1st Grade)
Last position: 3
The perfect run continues for the defending champions.
Saturday’s 71-0 victory over Eagles extended the club’s streak to 24 straight victories in Gold Coast District Rugby despite their rivals closing the talent gap this season.
The competition’s best tight five and its deadliest winger combine in perfect song for the 2021 title favourites.
Is matching Surfers Paradise’s record 42-game streak possible?
4. Palm Beach Currumbin Alleygators (1st Grade)
Last position: 10 (+6)
The biggest improvers in Gold Coast rugby over six weeks. Palm Beach’s dominant 41-7 win over Helensvale on Saturday, while missing reigning MVP Rodney Pita, proved the club was ready to challenge for the premiership again after a rocky start to the season.
5. Bond University (3rd)
Last position: 4 (-1)
With three wins from 10 Bond University slip just one spot, with the talent at their disposal alone their saving grace. The team is surely out of the running in the QRU Third Grade competition but if entered locally would still be around the top.
6. Nerang Bulls (1st)
Last position: 6 (+1)
Nerang were back singing from the songsheet in Round Nine, putting up 50 points for just the second time this season in a thrashing of talented Surfers Paradise. This team is a contender in GCDRU first grade, there is no doubt.
7. Helensvale Hogs (1st)
Last position: 5 (-2)
With every player on deck Helensvale looked certain to meet Colleges in the 2021 GCDRU Grand Final but that has not been the case.
Injuries have struck every position group, forcing depth pieces to step up. Unless players return the Hogs are just not the same team.
8. Bond Pirates (1st)
Last position: 7 (-1)
The Pirates broke a three-match losing streak against Coomera, in a match that showed the strike at their disposable. Putting points on the teams above them on this list will see them climb but defence is just not enough to do it yet.
9. Surfers Paradise Dolphins (1st)
Last position: 9
The Dolphins were fortunate not to slip below our top second grade side. The inconsistency is staggering, with the team looking a million bucks or a million bucks down the hole from week to week. They have potential to beat anyone but you never know with this team.
10. Nerang Bulls (2nd)
Last position: 14 (+4)
Dumping Coomera and Gold Coast Eagles out of the top 10, undefeated Nerang have weathered fierce challengers in recent weeks and still come out on top.
This team has a blend of experience and youth Second Grade has found impossible to top through nine weeks.
BEST OF THE REST
11. Griffith Uni Colleges Knights (2nd) +2
12. Coomera Crushers (1st) -4)
13. Helensvale Hogs (2nd) -2
14. Gold Coast Eagles (1st) -2
15. Surfers Paradise Dolphins (2nd)
16. Gold Coast Eagles (2nd) Unranked
17. Griffith Uni Colleges Knights (3rd) +1
18. Helensvale Hares (3rd) Unranked
19. Palm Beach Currumbin Alleygators (2nd Grade) -2
20. Nerang Bulls (3rd) -1
21. Bond Pirates (2nd) -5
22. Helensvale Hogs (3rd) -2
23. Hinterland Celtics (3rd) -2
’Hogs are having a party... and Bulls are on the bus!’
“THE Hogs are having a party… and Bulls are on the bus!”
It’s a familiar refrain for Tazzy Jones and Te Ari Mahuri, the Helensvale greats who between them played in practically all of the Hogs’ nine wins over Nerang between 2014 and 2020.
That is doubly true for 34-year-old Mahuri, Gold Coast rugby’s leading pointscorer from 2018, who brought the club song “I know who and what I am” to the Hogs seven years ago.
On Saturday, May 22, the pair heard it again but as players on the losing team for the first time.
This off-season the two best mates left their beloved club to begin a new adventure 15km down the M1 at Nerang.
The Hogs party was in full swing having triumphed 34-20 on Ladies Day, avenging a semi-finals loss to Nerang last year.
The “Bulls are on the bus” line hit a little differently for Jones and Mahuri knowing they would soon be joining Nerang on board it.
“The result in first grade wasn’t that great but coming here was awesome,” Mahuri said. “It was pretty daunting coming here … this game has been marked on the calendar for months.
“I spent seven years here. I brought the team song to the club, my name is up on the change rooms. It’s stuff like that that’s made it made it awesome to come back here.”
The chance to player-coach the Bulls in second grade was the primary motivator for Mahuri to make the move.
His nerves of steel shone through a 19-12 comeback victory, with two sideline conversions even more difficult with the pressure of every eye and voice at the ground on his back.
When Jones broke away from the pack to score a runaway try in first grade on the stroke of halftime Mahuri couldn’t contain his excitement from the Nerang bench.
“I was behind the posts stretching and by the time Tazzy scored I was almost at the halfway,” he said.
“I consider him my brother, his family is my family. Him following me to Nerang pretty much made a statement.
“I know for him to score that try meant a lot. He’s an emotional bloke, obviously it was unfortunate not to get the win but that try would have meant a lot to him.”
When Hogs veteran Frankie Kawana went down with severe cramps Jones stayed by his side long after the two teams had huddled up.
“Frankie is one of my all time best mates,” Jones said.
“We’ve looked after each other on and off the field for five or six years.
“I thought he’d done his knee from the way he was carrying on… I was ready to carry him off.
“As soon as I found out he was cramping I started stirring the pot about nutrition and training.”
With the words of their old team song ringing in their ears Mahuri and Jones will set their sights on the return match at Nerang on July 17.
‘She helped me not give up on my dream’: Coast star beats demons
AT 18 Lausii Taliauli had the footballing world at his feet.
An Australian Schools rugby union representative at The Southport School with a Gold Coast Titans contract in his back pocket, some of Taliauli’s fondest football memories were forged on the glitter strip.
It’s why, after two years out of the professional game through injury, the 27-year-old winger/centre has returned home to rediscover his love for the game again with the Helensvale Hogs.
Taliauli played 25 matches for the Brumbies in Super Rugby between 2015 and 2019 but had not laced up a boot since undergoing a major run of injuries in the years since.
The toll of those injuries reached far deeper places than even he was prepared to admit at the time.
“I was in a dark place, the last two years,” Taliauli said.
“I lost that love for footy, just with the injuries.
“It was pretty much depression. I didn’t really want to mingle with the boys, I just wanted to stay home and do my own thing.
“I’m usually not like that, I usually like to get out and spend time with family but I was in a dark space, keeping to myself for years.
“I’ve slowly come out of that with the help of my partner Madison. She’s helped me through the bad times, helped me not give up on my dreams.”
The birth of the couple’s first son Koa was the start of Taliauli’s long road back to what made him happy.
“Koa has brought light back into my life,” he said.
“I’ve been trying to just chill out with family on the Gold Coast.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster but I’m loving playing again with the Hogs.”
Taliauli was originally slated to return to his childhood club at Nerang but his brother’s club switch to Helensvale brought Lausii along for the ride.
The pair hadn’t played together since Taliauli was nine years old and their reunion on the field will arrive once Steve recovers from an injury of his own.
Until then, Taliauli has taken on a leadership role mentoring a host of the Hogs’ next generation.
That has involved leading from the front, crossing for fives tries in his first three matches in Helensvale blue.
Regaining fitness is the primary goal for 2021 with a potential return to elite rugby contingent on first getting through a season unscathed.
“I had a little chat to Bond University as well but I wasn’t in the right mindset to play for them,” Taliauli said.
“I’m coming back from injury so trying to slowly build from here and see how we go after this year.”
His presence has opened a title window for the Hogs to unsettle a Colleges dynasty.
The tryscoring freak Gold Coast rugby must stop in 2021
SURFERS Paradise playmaker Indiha Saotui-Huta’s winding sporting journey has brought him back to the club where it all began, just in time to take on its oldest rival.
Saotui-Huta has emerged as the spearhead for the Dolphins attack in his return to Gold Coast rugby, crossing for two tries in three games and setting up the matchwinner from inside centre for Surfers’ maiden victory over Palm Beach Currumbin last week.
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It is his rapid acceleration and deceptive footwork that make the 86kg flyer one of the competition’s toughest players to defend against.
He will be the No.1 target for the Gold Coast Eagles when the out-of-form club journeys to Albert Park for the latest edition of the Coast’s oldest rugby rivalry.
Surfers has lost just one match to the Eagles since 2016, a 27-23 upset last year but only narrowly avoided the clean sweep with a 73rd minute try to split the series at one win each.
The Eagles may be yet to cross the chalk after three weeks but Saotui-Huta said his side knew better than to begin celebrating too early on Ladies Day at the club.
“We’ve looked at their previous scores where they’ve been blown out but I don’t care,” he said..
“I know Eagles are a good side and I know some of their boys.
“If we can go out and enjoy ourselves like we did last week I believe we’ll beat them.”
The 21-year-old won an NRL Schoolboys national championship at fullback in Tom Dearden and Toby Sexton’s PBC team in 2018, having played First XV rugby for New Plymouth Boys High in New Zealand’s famous Super 8 schools competition the previous two seasons.
He starred for the Samoan under-20s in their qualification run to the second division world championships in Spain but missed out when that was cancelled due to COVID-19.
With the world at his feet in 2021, the allure of reuniting with his junior club, coached by former high school coach Rangi Joseph and stocked with old classmates from King’s Christian College, proved too enticing to ignore.
“I last played on the Gold Coast in 2018 but I wanted to come back to my old club,” Saotui-Huta said.
“It’s always good to come back to a group of boys you know and amazing coaches so it made it easy.
“I do miss a bit of league and I do consider going back but the boys here make my decision (to stay) easy.”
PBC will host the Bulls, Bond travels to Helensvale and Coomera hosts undefeated Colleges in other Round 4 first grade clashes.
Gold Coast Eagles have confirmed they will contest a second-grade clash against Surfers after injuries and unavailability forced the club to forfeit the past two weeks.
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KNIGHTS GRAND FINAL MVP SLAMS FORMER CLUB IN BITTER EXIT
REIGNING Gold Coast rugby union grand final MVP Jarrod Nyssen has sensationally walked out on his former club to join the team he was instrumental in defeating in 2020’s decider.
The 28-year-old flyhalf cited personality clashes with key members of the Griffith Uni Colleges Knights organisation and the family-friendly culture of Nerang as the reasons behind his stunning exit.
Nyssen (pictured) played only a handful of matches in 2020 at his preferred position of flyhalf, relegated to the wing, centre or fullback for the majority of the season.
He will wear the Nerang No.10 jersey in 2021 in a move that will turbocharge the Bulls’ premiership ambitions with a seasoned shot-caller at the helm.
“Hopefully I can help them return to the grand final,” Nyssen said.
“They didn’t have very many pieces missing last year but maybe that (a veteran flyhalf) is one.
“For me my role is bleeding information to the young fellas and helping them understand where, what and how to approach the game.”
Nyssen minced no words with his feelings for the club he has left behind.
“I’ve got nothing against Griffith, I love those boys, there are just a few guys who are over-involved and have too much of a say,” he said.
“It creates a bit of tension which Griffith has had even before I came.
“It’s come to a boiling point even though they did win.
“Hopefully they get some numbers to training and hopefully they recruit well.
“They’ll need it.”
Nyssen said the family friendly environment at Nerang was a major benefit compared to the drama he leaves behind.
“Plain and simple it’s for the family environment, to be honest,” he said.
“I had a look at a few other clubs but wasn’t too interested, it was going to be Nerang or Griffith for me.
“There were a few people around Griffith I didn’t really want to be around so I decided Nerang.
“One thing I’ve really noticed, they have belief their culture is the best and that culture will win them a comp, not recruiting star players.
“They play and develp what they have and I think that’s the best thing.
“My son, and my future baby that’s on the way and my wife, I just felt it was more of a family environment.”
Nyssen said he was most excited to play alongside his good mate Kereama Henare, Nerang captain Josh Edmond, No.8 Jovi Isaac and hotshot fullback Will Bird at his new club.
The chance to mentor young Nerang Grand Final flyhalf Jarden Cairns is one Nyssen plans to embrace.
Nyssen’s availability has increased since leaving a fly-in, fly-out job to take a new position based on the Gold Coast full-time.
He will come face to face with his former club in Round One.
STAR CODE HOPPER CALLUM BURGESS-BOOMER SIGNS WITH KNIGHTS
DEFENDING champions Griffith Uni Colleges Knights have landed the first recruitment home run of the 2021 GCDRU season, enticing fullback Callum Burgess-Boomer to code-hop from the Tweed Seagulls.
After the Intrust Super Cup season was abandoned in 2020 the 22-year-old scored seven tries in nine matches for the Southport Tigers to finish third on the Rugby League Gold Coast A Grade tryscoring leaderboard.
Work and family commitments forced Burgess-Boomer to step down from Tweed in 2021, opening the door to a new challenge.
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“I was losing too many hours going down to Tweed that I couldn’t support my family or even pay rent,” he said.
“I left Tweed to try get a house for my family.
“I was going to play League just for fun until I met Richard Kingi.”
Burgess-Boomer saw a viral video of the Colleges star’s journey back from serious illness to pull on the boots again and was inspired to train with the former Queensland Red and Melbourne Rebel.
“We started doing sprints, then I started doing rugby skills like kicking and quick passing,” he said.
“I kind of fell in love with the sport and I decided to have a crack at Union.”
Kingi could see he had the makings of an excellent rugby fullback despite having never played the game.
Intrigued, Burgess-Boomer asked Kingi to teach him the ropes of fullback play.
“I asked Rich to run me through a few drills of what a fullback would do and I fell in love with the fullback’s role. Now here I am.”
Under Kingi’s wing Burgess-Boomer has sought out video of some of the game’s top No.15s, including All Blacks star Beauden Barrett, to further his rugby education.
“He’s the sort of player I see myself trying to play like,” he said.
“You could say I’m a bit like him already.”
Regular Colleges fullback Connor Kennedy has five matches to serve on his suspension for headbutting in the 2020 Grand Final win over Nerang, leaving his jersey available to start the season.
Burgess-Boomer is almost a certainty to claim it but is adamant he must earn the position on merit, not reputation.
“I’m not here to be a showman,” he said.
“I’m here to hopefully learn the game, do my job and be a good teammate to the other boys.
“I’d love to learn more about the club’s history and what they’ve been through.
“Obviously they’re defending champs so hopefully we can get there again.”
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