Neil Cadigan
The Seagulls sit third on the Gold Coast A-grade ladder after four rounds thanks to a hard-fought 24-22 win against Bilambil on Saturday.
The Kevin Campion-coached side made hard work of the victory at times, especially on the first half due to several errors, but their tough defence again was the feature.
With all facets of the game now dominated by the ‘wrestle’ and gang tackles with the ball carrier being held up, Campion – one of the NRL’s best and toughest defenders during his career – is encouraging good effective driving first contact, and it can unsettle the opposition.
The Seagulls were eight behind at half-time with back-rower Sam Saville, in his first game back from injury, in the sin-bin for dissent.
However, a more constructive display in the second half saw the Gulls gain their third victory of the season with their only loss a 2-0 defeat against Currumbin.
“They’re pretty basic instructions that I’m trying to encourage and when we get used to playing it, I think we can win the competition,” enthused Campion.
“It’s about running hard and building pressure by holding possession and then being effective in defence.
“When we do that, we can win easily. When we don’t, we have to exhaust ourselves with defence which has been excellent all year.
“There is a lot of talent in the side and the effort is tremendous, although we let some soft tries in from close to our line.
“We focused on one on one defence this week, and the technique of the tackling rather than the wrestle, dropping and diving and putting shoulder into it.
“We’re getting there. I was really happy with the effort.”
Ethan Roberts was switched from the halves to hooker to cover for Jack Cook who was promoted to the ISC side and Roberts showed his class. He scored a good try from dummy half and was also responsible for some big hits.
Cody Parsons was another who was dominant defensively and Regan Muir, one of several players who have fired in the ISC, was excellent on the wing while Harry Hughes was another of several good performers, with Saville strong in the second half.
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