Neil Cadigan, Seagulls media
The Ben Campbell Building Group Tweed Head Seagulls completely outplayed Easts Tigers in their first home clash at Piggabeen Sports Complex since round one, with a five tries to two 24-12 victory.
The scoreline flattered the Tigers who took 61 minutes to get on the scoreboard while the Seagulls will gain confidence going into their trip to Mackay next weekend with successive victories (they beat Wynnum Manly the previous weekend) after starting the season with five straight losses.
Both sides were terrible with their completion rates in the first 30 minutes, unable to build any continual pressure, with Tweed’s right centre Brayden McGrady scoring the only try in that period from a shift to the right after fullback AJ Brimson came onto the ball to give McGrady a bit of space 20 metres out.
The only time the Tigers looked dangerous in that period was when five-eighth Brayden Torpy put Adam Crear into space and deep into Seagulls; territory but the kick at the end of the set was easily tidied up by Tweed.
Four minutes before half-time one of several Easts’ short line-drops outs they deployed didn’t travel the 10 metres and rather than take an easy kick at goal for a 6-0 lead, the Gulls were rewarded when they took a tap and Brimson scored when good footwork near the line on the left split the defence.
While the Seagulls improved their control with the ball in the second half and converted pressure into points with two tries down the right in the opening 16 minutes, while the Tigers were out-enthused and struggled for answers with gun Melbourne Storm half Brodie Croft, selected on Tuesday, not there to add punch.
“We spoke at halftime if just playing with more patience, getting to the end of our sets rather than rushing like we had been and that’s what the team did,” said Seagulls coach Ben Woolf.
“We played with controlled aggression and better discipline once we got into the grind of the match, and that’s what we hadn’t been doing in the first five rounds despite genuine effort.”
His counterpart Scott Sipple would have been tearing his hair out due to the fact the Tigers just never seemed to find second gear other than a brief period in the final quarter of the game.
The Gulls first second-half try was a brilliant one. After a kick by Lindon McGrady to the right corner, Kiah Cooper brilliantly won the contest in the air and flipped around and offloaded to fellow Titans-contracted youngster Tony Mata’utia who spectacularly dived over in the corner.
Six minutes later, former Easts player Tristin Lumley, one of the Gulls’ best against his former club, was put into a gap by a Lindon McGrady short ball and found the line for Tweed to lead 16-0 from four unconverted tries.
PICTURED: Workhorse forward Lamar Liolevave on the charge. Photo: QRL
Torpy, who captained the Titans under-20s under the coaching of Woolf in 2015, beat two defenders with right foot steps from close range in the 61st minute then converted to put the Tigers in the match at 16-6 and they lifted in intensity and purpose for the next 10 minutes.
But the Seagulls sealed the win in the 77th minute when hooker Sam Meskell received a 30-metre bustling run and great offload from centre Brendan Elliot. Meskell beat some poor scrambling defence to go under the posts for 24-6.
Tigers fullback Joseph Bond scored his side’s second try in the final minute after he beat Brayden McGrady 10 metres out and Torpy converted.
Titans centre Elliot, in just his second match of the season because of injury, did some classy things when his side was under pressure, skipper Cheyne Whitelaw, playing most of the game in the middle, was tireless, Liolevave continually willing taking the ball up, Brimson was a constant threat while five-eighth Lindon McGrady was involved in three tries.
However, winger Rylan Cooper, a big contributor to the victory with his good yardage from the Seagulls own end, won their players’ player award.
Torpy was Easts’ most constructive player.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 24 (Brayden McGrady, AJ Brimson, Tony Matautia, Tristan Lumley, Sam Meskell tries; Lindon McGrady 2 goals) def EASTS TIGERS 12 (Brayden Torpy, Joseph Bond tries; Brayden Torpy 2 goals) at Piggabeen Sports Complex.
INTRUST SUPER CUP POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 7
| Team | Played | Won | Draw | Lost | Bye | For | Agnst | Total |
| Burleigh Bears | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 191 | 130 | 12 |
| Souths Logan Magpies | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 192 | 113 | 10 |
| Redcliffe Dolphins | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 179 | 107 | 10 |
| Norths Devils | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 174 | 139 | 10 |
| Townsville Blackhawks | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 182 | 122 | 8 |
| Ipswich Jets | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 133 | 150 | 8 |
| Easts Tigers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 146 | 139 | 6 |
| Northern Pride | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 110 | 105 | 6 |
| Sunshine Coast Falcons | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 143 | 145 | 6 |
| CQ Capras | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 114 | 158 | 6 |
| PNG Hunters | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 118 | 154 | 4 |
| Wynnum Manly Seagulls | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 141 | 183 | 4 |
| Tweed Heads Seagulls | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 106 | 188 | 4 |
| Mackay Cutters | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 112 | 208 | 4 |
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