Titans skipper Jamal Fogarty enjoying Burleigh’s return to form

HE MAY have left the Bears behind to chase his NRL dream with the Titans, but Jamal Fogarty remains a Burleigh man at heart.

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HE MAY have left the Bears behind to chase his NRL dream with the Gold Coast Titans, but Jamal Fogarty still takes a keen interest in Burleigh’s Intrust Super Cup fortunes.

The Bears’ 2019 premiership-winning playmaker remains clued into every game his former team plays and, after Burleigh’s upset thrashing of the Norths Devils last weekend, Fogarty was in good spirits.

“Obviously they had a slow start to the season but they’ve found a bit of form the past few weeks,” the Titans skipper said.

Burleigh snapped a two-game losing streak with a gritty 25-18 win over the PNG Hunters on April 25, before backing up a fortnight later with the 36-0 drubbing of the previously unbeaten Devils.

Jamal Fogarty of the Bears (third left) celebrates with teammates after scoring a try during the 2019 National State Championship Grand Final between the Newtown Jets and the Burleigh Bears at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Sunday, October 6, 2019. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

“I think the PNG game gave them confidence, being down to 13 players for 51 minutes and the boys digging deep for the win,” Fogarty said.

“They rolled out against Norths and put on a clinic … to be 30-nil at halftime and go on with it was good to see.

“I think with what the club’s got there with the depth and the players they have, hopefully it’s another strong year ahead and they can push for the trophy.”

SAMI SIZZLES: Burleigh star’s 20-minute hat-trick stuns rivals

IN CASE anyone outside Burleigh’s four walls had forgotten just how good Sami Sauiluma was, the Bears’ star centre offered an emphatic reminder against Norths Devils on Sunday.

The former Canberra Raiders outside back returned to his brilliant best in the 36-0 thrashing of the previously unbeaten Devils, running in three first-half tries and setting up two others in a complete performance signalling his return to form.

Sauiluma opened the scoring after five minutes and turned provider for Greg Marzhew not long after, before back-to-back tries to round out his hat-trick after just 20 minutes played.

Under a midweek injury cloud nursing bruised ribs, Sauiluma produced easily his best performance of the season according to coach Rick Stone.

“Yeah for sure, I think so,” Stone said.

“He scored three and set up a couple for Greg outside him – it was his best game of the year for sure.

“He’s got a really important presence in our team and he brings an aura of confidence whenever he plays. His influence on and off the field on our team is significant and on Sunday it was there for everyone to see.”

Sauiluma’s big day out punctuated a near-perfect afternoon for the Bears, whose Intrust Super Cup title defence had been written off by many pundits after their uncharacteristically slow start to the season.

Now on a two-game winning run ahead of a home date with Ipswich this weekend, the Bears have breathed life into their season – but Stone still wants to see more before he is convinced.

“I’d like to see it happen a bit more before I can say ‘we’re back’,” he said.

“But the last couple of weeks, since that big loss to Easts … we weren’t far away against Tweed, then we played tough and showed a lot of character against PNG.

“To see our attack click as it did on Sunday was a good result that also gave a few of our coaches a bit of belief.

“Now we want to see it happen more consistently.

“Hopefully we can get some confidence out of what we did on the weekend. We definitely executed the best by far this year and if we defend like we did it will keep us in most games.”

Without Pat Politoni as he nurses a forearm injury, the Bears welcomed back Erin Clark from the Gold Coast Titans who was electric in the nine.

Stone said Politoni was likely at least a fortnight away from returning.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 23: Erin Clark of the Titans passes during the round seven NRL match between the Gold Coast Titans and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Cbus Super Stadium, on April 23, 2021, in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“We have a bye the week after this, so it might be after then that we see him,” Stone said.

“Erin Clark coming back from the Titans … he played 80 minutes for us and was a constant threat.

“Having someone of his quality come back really gave us a boost.”

Conner Toia replaced Guy Hamilton at halfback and steered the ship with maturity alongside Josh Rogers, while livewire flyer Taine Tuaupiki was handed his Cup debut off the bench and impressed in limited minutes.

“Conner was great like we always knew he would be,” Stone said.

“He’s not a kid – he’s 27 and has 30-odd Queensland Cup games under his belt.

“He’s played a lot of senior footy and has been really successful. He fit in seamlessly for us.

Burleigh Bears’ Taine Tuaupiki. Picture: Jerad Williams

“ (Tuaupiki) didn’t get a lot of time, but it was good reward for Taine as he’d been around the mark for a while.

“He got his chance and it’s testament to his consistency of effort and quality of performance in the grade below.”