Written by Jason Oliver, Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls pulled out to a 24-0 lead while beating the Burleigh Bears 32-18 at Pizzey Park, Gold Coast.
Some ill-discipline from the home side put them on the back foot early. Consecutive Burleigh penalties gave Tweed field position and the work sharpening the attack that Ben Woolf talked about during the week paid dividends.
Sam Lisone made an impact on this game early with his ball-playing leading to Sosefo Fifita going over in the corner. Lisone charged the middle before getting the ball to Lindon McGrady who threw a fabulous tunnel ball to the edge.
A handful of penalties hurt both sides and the Bears ended up a forward pass short of leveling the scores in the 14th minute. A brief period of dominance followed the near-try. Herman Ese’ese played a dangerous short ball to Jacob Alick but the Seagulls right edge defence held firm. Similarly, the left edge slid with relative ease to shut down shifts on that side of the field. With the defensive work done, the Seagulls attack clicked into gear.
Tweed continued to be the dominant team in yardage as Braden Robson, JJ Collins and Lisone charged through the middle. Lisone’s ball-playing, in particular, became a key feature as the Seagulls explored the edges through Paul Turner down the right side. His half-break led to a quick play-the-ball which Brent Woolf used to crash over the line. Held up on this occasion, he wouldn’t be denied two minutes later.
A Bears error gave the Seagulls another crack at the line and Woolf took a similar approach to before – darting behind a Will Brimson quick play-the-ball – to dot down in the 21st minute.
Seagulls coach Ben Woolf has the luxury of swapping Brent Woolf with Craig Garvey at hooker which, as has been the case a few times already this season, translated into points.
Braden Robson ran a nice diamond shape one off the ruck to play Collins onto Ese’ese and Alick in the middle. Catching the slightest sign of laziness at marker, Garvey’s dummy sent Api Noema-Matenga wide before his left foot step split the markers and took him into the backfield. With the fullback drawn, Garvey sent McGrady over the line for the Seagulls to go 16-0 in front.
Desperation set in for the Bears who looked to end the attacking onslaught by creeping inside the 10 metres. The onslaught continued, though. Lamar Manuel-Liolevave has been making an impact off the bench as a strong ball carrier so far this season and used that to compress the defence ahead of Tweed’s fourth try. Manuel-Liolevave got deep into the line before releasing the ball wide where McGrady and Turner again linked up. Running at a retreating defensive line, Turner drew the defence before providing Fifita with his second of the afternoon.
There is the impact of the ball-playing middle again bringing three middle defenders into the action before the shift wide.
Halftime couldn’t come soon enough for the Bears who ended the first 40 standing behind the posts for a fifth time. A messy ending to a McGrady grubber gave the Seagulls one more crack at the line. Will Brimson put in an inch-perfect grubber with the friendly bounce up to Ryland Jacobs who crashed through two scrambling defenders to score in the corner. That allowed the Seagulls to enter the sheds with a healthy 24-0 lead. While the Bears had their moments, the scoreboard reflected a dominant first half from the visitors.
A Brimson penalty for high contact provided the Bears with the field position to begin mounting their comeback early in the second half. Despite the Seagulls defence looking comfortable as Guy Hamilton tried to float one over the top and into the corner, they couldn’t clean up Hamilton’s attacking kick on the last tackle. Alick used his full 192cm frame to pluck the ball out of the air and crash over.
As Burleigh’s Sami Sauiluma threw himself through two defenders to score in the corner, Tweed responded with a Try of the Season contender.
Ioane Seiuli made a half-break through the line as he skipped through some tired defence. Not content with his outrageous offload out the back to Turner, Seiuli dragged himself up off the ground and kept up with the play, rewarded by taking back possession before carrying four Bears defenders over the line.
A short kickoff gave the Bears possession with another penalty for high contact extending their period with the ball as Lee Turner was called out in front of his peers and placed on report. Again, Burleigh looked left where they had just found success through Sauiluma who produced a carbon copy of his earlier try to crash over and cut Tweeds lead to 12 with 15 minutes to play.
Burleigh weren’t without chances late but the Tweed pack regained control of the game to wrap up the two points. Lisone picked out a tired defender and skipped straight through the line. The scrambled defence conceded a penalty in response which allowed McGrady to kick the penalty goal which sealed the 32-18 win and two competition points for the visitors.
Takeaways from Round 4
Sam Lisone made his presence felt early and throughout this one. A massive body that put the Seagulls on the front foot, his ball-playing added plenty to the Seagulls attack. Tweed have looked their best this year when the likes of Braden Robson, Sam McIntyre and this week, Lisone, are moving the ball through the middle to give a dangerous back line room to move with only two minutes passing before Lisone’s value became evident.
With the dominance in yardage came the scheming from behind the ruck. Being able to swap Brent Woolf with Craig Garvey as fatigue starts setting into the defence is a blessing most teams can only dream of but one the Seagulls play with every week. Again, the pair produced points with Woolf getting over himself before Garvey provided McGrady with a meat pie shortly after.
With Tweeds ability to both dominate through their hookers in the middle and ball-playing through their big men, space is opening up on the edges. Paul Turner is growing into his role at fullback and looked his most dangerous this week, often on the back of a long-side shift with a middle forward linking up with McGrady along the way.
Coach’s Comments
Excellent in defence all season, Seagulls coach Ben Woolf was left happy with his side on both sides of the ball despite conceding 18 points in the second half.
“I’m happy with how the attack improved today. Our defence was good for the most part as well, just a run of possession let us down in the second half,” Woolf said.
Providing Paul Turner with some early ball was part of that improved attack as he looked sharp down the edges.
“We did ID that there was some opportunity in attack if we got Paul some early ball and he did a great job,” said Woolf.
So too was Sam Lisone who impressed in his first game for the club in 2022.
“Sam always brings good energy and enthusiasm. He played well today.”
Result
Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls 32 def. Burleigh Bears 18
Tweed Tries: Sosefo Fifita 2′, Brent Woolf 22′, Lindon McGrady 29′, Sosefo Fifita 33′, Ryland Jacobs 37′, Ioane Seiuli 56′
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