Meninga/Connell Cups: Seagulls fly, Bulls in moral win
The Meninga Cup and Connell Challenge action this weekend included a moral victory to the Wide Bay Bulls, saw the Seagulls take flight and the Cutters’ defence improve.
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Unbeaten Wynnum Manly have been told to prepare for a Norths Devils’ bounce back when the two teams clash in next weekend’s Meninga Cup under 18 rugby league competition at Iona College.
The Seagulls maintained its three match winning streak after defeating the Brisbane Tigers yesterday by 40-12, but coach Jesse Maclean already has his players raising their head toward a rematch with Norths.
In round 1 the Seagulls ambushed a bigger Norths outfit at Bishop Park, surprising the Devils who had comprehensively defeated Wynnum in a pre-season trial earlier.
“Norths won’t be under prepared. They will put it on us, they will come at us at Iona College.
“They are well coached and won’t be under done,’’ Maclean said.
Maclean said he was delighted with the resilience of his team against the Tigers, but displeased with the outfit’s discipline.
“The Tigers were good, they asked questions but we kept showing up. I was proud of our last line defence,’’ Maclean said.
“But we had poor discipline and lost the penalty count again. Norths are that good, they will take it our of our hands (if that happens again).’’
Maclean said his centre Nathaniel Tangimataiti shone, as did half Blake Moore who was “busy’’.
“He comes from Toowoomba to work, so he is here for the right reasons,’’ Maclean said. “He is a marked man, but that is what happens when you are a good half – you have a target on your back.’’
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Brisbane Easts coach Isaac Kauufman said middle forward Madison Beckett and his dummy half Jackson Chang were his best players, with Chang rewarded with two second half tries.
The Tigers actually scored first through Jordan Abel, but soon after Wynnum asserted itself with three tries in seven minutes to Mallars, Radel and Packer.
In Connell Challenge action between the two clubs, the Tigers enjoyed a 24-14 win over the Seagulls.
The Tigers fell behind after Seagulls’ Luke Anderson scored first half tries, but the home side fought back late in the first and early in the second half with Marley Rudolph, Gary Herlihy, Oliver Frazer and Maika Poese scoring.
Wynnum under 16 coach Jarrod Biggs said Jack Hudson was: very tough in defence and played a full game in the middle’’.
“We were disappointed we didn’t get to our set pieces more often,’’ Biggs said.
“When we moved the ball in the first half, we found some space but could not execute under pressure in the second half.
“But I am proud of the boys’ courage in defence against a much bigger forward pack.’’
Brisbane Tigers Connell coach Damien Pratt said Marley Rudolf, Maika Poese, Mikael Ibrahim, Ben Allen, Oliver Grazer and P J Sua were his best players.
In Maryborough, the Wide Bay Bulls claimed a moral victory over the Capras after drawing the Connell Challenge clash 16-all.
Bulls manager Scott Prendergast said “They did us proud today. There was lots of energy and effort and the bush kids did good.’’
Bulls coach Craig Brough added: “They did everything I asked them to do. It was a massive turn around. I am taking it as a win.’’
Brough said he was loath to single any players out, and “all the boys who came in from the bush, from South Burnett, stepped up to the plate.
But he said halfback and captain Ezekiel Monckton and his No. 13 Cayleb Johnson led from the front.
Brough said regardless of what happens, the Bulls’ boys will be better players at the end of the season.
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Capras’ Connell Cup coach Duane Carpenter said his side struggled to control the ball on a wet track.
“We only completed one set in the first half and blew half a dozen sets in the first 15 minutes.
“Liam Barnes came off the bench into dummy half and got us in front, scoring a hat trick.
“But unfortunately the second half saw more of the same from us in attack, more drop ball and errors.
“But despite being terrible with the ball, we were outstanding for the majority of the game in defence, holding the Bulls for multiple sets in the last 10 minutes with only 12 on the field.’’
He said his best players for Capras were Tavita Penaia Te’o and Rydell Tyrell. ”Rydell did a great job off the bench for us,’’ said Carpenter.
“Matty Groves had a great game in the back row as well.’’
In the Meninga Cup between Capras and Wide Bay, Central Queensland went on with the job to win 46-nil.
Capras coach Kane Hardy said after five weeks of travel, and playing in wet conditions, his team was a little flat against a Wide Bay side that “threw a lot at us’’.
Hardy said it was imperative the side improve its completion rate.
“We have not been over 50 per cent yet,’’ Hardy said. “We are not giving ourselves a chance with the ball.’’
But he said defensively the side was defending the errors.
He said prop Tom Powell and fellow forward Riley Hall were best for the Capras.
In Meninga Cup action between the Mustangs and Falcons, the Mustangs scored late through Joshua Truscott to beat a fast finishing Falcons 32-28.
Truscott dragged down a cross kick from Ryan Gill who had launched the kick toward the corner.
“It was good vision, he saw an opportunity and backed himself which was good,’’ praised Mustangs coach Brendan Wilson.
Wilson said he liked his team’s first half. “We completed about 80 per cent of the ball and were up 20-6, but then the Sunny Coast came back to lead.
“I was happy with the win but not happy with our second half,’’ he added, wanting more consistency.’’
Mustangs centre Declan Ryan got the Players Player award, while Matt Wilson controlled play nicely and Will Johnson “went really well until he got hurt’’.
For the Falcons, the mobile Harry Dwyer scored three second half tries within the space of 13 minutes to send his team into the lead late in the match.
In Connell Cup action between Mustangs and the Falcons, the Sunshine Coast Falcons pulled the match from out of the fire when Jayden Smith scored a try which was converted by Finn Lawson.
Falcons Connell Cup coach Jack Dreger said he liked the resilience of his side.
He said when the errors came, the team “did not throw in the towel’’ and kept working hard, leading to a late winning try for Smith.
“But in both games we have not shown enough respect for the football and when we do we have shown that we can roll down field and build pressure and score points,’’ Dreger said.
Mustangs coach Matt Jahnke was disappointed to lose late. “They were tough conditions and they hung in well and played tough footy in patches. They were prepared to roll up sleeves and get back to basics.’’
Harrison Schwenke lifted the pack coming off the bench “when we needed to get back on top’’.
Jahnke said his captain Bailey Rathmell tried hard while centre Bailey Nash was “patient and took the opportunities he was given’’.
Dreger said the Falcons No. 9 Tim Lawson and Smith were his best players.
The Cutters enjoyed a 26-12 win over Northern Pride in Connell Challenge action.
Cutters coach Garry Edwards his team’s early completion rate was faultless, leading to three tries to Balin Burnett (twice) and Jaxon Purdue in the first 10 minutes.
“We did not defend until 16-17th minutes – it was amazing. I have never seen that in my life of football.
“But to the opposition’s credit, they came back at us.
“It was very competitive in the second half, a tight tussle but in the last 10-15 minutes, and I don’t know if it was our fitness, but we started making inroads.
Overall I was really happy with the way we completed our sets.’’
Edwards said Bill Flynn was the Players Player, while Matt Watts, Liam Doherty and Henry Thorpe also shone.
“Another pleasing thing was we had scored tries on the left side prior, but today we scored tries on both sides,’’ Edwards added.
After defending for so much of the early period of the first half, the Pride somehow found the energy to score two tries in three minutes to Cohen Emmi and Jackson Fahlstrom, both converted by David Neller.
Indeed it was not until Zach Keating scored with 10 minutes to go that the Cutters could feel relatively comfortable.
In Meninga Cup action between the two clubs, Cutters assistant coach Shane Mau said his team’s defence was a “big improvement on last week’’ following a 44-10 win.
He said the squad also improved its ground work around the tackle, but he was seeking more improvement on the one per cent plays.
“Those little mistakes, like talk at the back, kicks going unfielded, little communication – we want to improve.
Mau praised his captain Ethan Sweet who shone on the edge, while Cody Nielson played a full game at dummy half. Sweet also reserved praise for Baden Robinson.
For the Pride, James Frazer and Kaleb Nielsen scored first half tries.
In the Connell Challenge between Gold Coast team Tweed Seagulls and Burleigh Bears, Tweed had a nice 33-6 win.
Jacob Sa, Matthew Barrow (two), Teina-Kore Makakea, Lewis Symonds and Ra-koia Smith scored for Tweed, while Tana Tuhaka crossed just before halftime for Bears.
Assistant coach Mark O’Brien said Tweed’s forward pack was excellent, as was the instinctive play of the side. “If you see something, then you go and do it in good ball area,’’ O’Brien said.
He said the players were really “buying into the rep program’’ and enjoying themselves.
O’Brien said his captain Keahn Skipps, his halves partner Ra-koia Smith, Will Saunders, fullback Lewis Symonds and winger Barrow shone for the side.
At Petrie, The Redcliffe Dolphins Connell Challenge outfit enjoyed a 26-18 win over Norths in a mighty match.
Dolphins coach Chris Little described the victory as “gritty’’ after the Devils had led early. “The boys showed tremendous character to come back from 8-nil down,’’ Little said.
He praised centre Jayden Alefaio and No. 9 Mitchell Rogers after the match.
Norths jumped out of the block to lead after tries by John Pokia and Poutoa Hotere-Papalii, while George Taualai scored again just before halftime and Angus Harvey late in the second half.
Norths were able to swing around the result in the Meninga Cup encounter, beating Norths 26-22.
Devils coach Kevin Neighbour said the resilience of his players shone through.
He said this season was a big learning curve for his group, with the kids having to learn to defend against big bodies for an entire match.
Neighbour said Norths defence was excellent and forced errors, but the group tends to become frustrated when they have the ball.
“We have to think of different ways to create different scenarios to break teams down,’’ Neighbour said.
The coach praised his No. 13 Liam Le Blanc while Isaiah Iongi was shifted one wide from edge backrower to centre where he played well.
He said bench players Patrick Towne and Norman Rua also “gave us a good lift’’ when they came on. “They did a very, very good job,’’ he praised.
Redcliffe came back late with tries to Guireh Brooks – his second of the match – and Jonathan Maller, but the Dolphins could not bridge the gap.
Dolphins coach Wade Hadley said Brooks was tremendous in scoring his three tries, while half Jonathan Maller and hard working dummy half Drew Timms also rose to the occasion.
Hadley said Redcliffe’s defensive “intent in contact’’ was significantly better this week, but unfortunately “too much dropped ball and errors prevented us from attacking at the right times’’
At the North Ipswich Reserve, Souths Logan edged out the Jets 26-24 in Meninga Cup, while in Connell Challenge was won 40-10 by Souths Logan.
Magpies Meninga Cup coach Billy Vine said it was a “lucky escape’’ by his side against an Ipswich side that just kept coming.
“Ipswich are a side that are never going to stop and we knew that going in. We needed to respect that and on the field I am not sure that we did,’’ Vine explained.
He said if the team gave away more cheap penalties against Burleigh next weekend, they will be in trouble.
Vine praised the powerhouse effort of Herman Tofaeono. “He was a leader of the pack and set a good platform. He set the platform for our lead,’’ Vine said.
Classy left centre Prinston Esera was strong for Souths Logan while fullback Aiden Severns continues to impress.
Ipswich coach Michael Armstrong said Jed Bignell, Kulikefu Finefeuiaki and Josiah Pahulu led the Jets performance.
For the Jets, Finefeuiaki, Damien Burrows, Cyron Tull, Malique Douthat and
Zachery Alley scored tries, with Douthat and Alley scoring within the space of four minutes of each other at a time when the Jets looked like they might get their rivals.
In the Connell Cup, the Magpies tries were scored by Dylan Gallagher, Delacruz Ripley, Devonte Vaivela, Brandon Tikinau, Corey Nassif, William Semu and Mou Taumaletila-maulolo, while Wyatt Lourigan and Kohen Briggs crossed for the Jets.
The Jets best were Azariah Puleaga and Jack Laing.
Originally published as Meninga/Connell Cups: Seagulls fly, Bulls in moral win
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