Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, are travelling to Papua New Guinea to take on the Hunters at PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby.
Tweed are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 38-18 defeat at the hands of the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls last week.
“I’m very disappointed in the way we played,” said coach Dave Penna after the loss.
“There are no excuses, we were outplayed and out-enthused today.
“Wynnum played really well.”
There were a handful of strong performances within the Tweed 17, though.
The Tweed spine looked dangerous early on. Lindon McGrady, Tom Weaver and Toby Sexton all added another try assist to their season tally. Weaver’s, in particular, came via a pin-point floater to Ryland Jacobs in the corner.
Kaleb Ngamanu again put his hand up for the tough carries to finish with a team-high 188 running metres for the afternoon. Jacobs wasn’t far behind with 186 metres as the Tweed back-five often had the team moving up the field. However, 10 errors turned the ball over in the wrong parts of the field and translated into just 47% possession across the 80 minutes. Eventually, the defence started to crack despite it being a strong aspect of the Seagulls’ season heading into Round 11.
Much of the same side has been named with a few notable mentions. McGrady was forced off the field after 65 minutes last week but is set to feature on Saturday. Joe Vuna played in his first game for the club since Round 6 and has been named again for this one. Brent Woolf, who performed exceptionally well as a ball-playing middle in Round 11, will return to dummy half in Round 12 with Oskar Bryant recalled to the bench.
It will be almost a year to the day since these two last met. With the scores level at 12-12 going into the break, the two teams traded second-half tries before McGrady knocked over a field goal to take the lead in the 77th minute. Blake Scott added the extra on the stroke of full time for the Seagulls to take the chocolates with a 24-22 win.
The Papua New Guinea Hunters carried a 16-6 lead into the break over the Northern Pride last week but again lost in a close one 22-16. That’s now back-to-back weeks the Hunters have been within a try of victory and they’ll be desperate to do the job this week as they play their second of four consecutive home games at the PNG Football Stadium in Port Moresby.
Morea Morea is one to look out for in the Hunters lineup. He’s a diminutive figure but one the Seagulls will need to keep an eye on whenever Papua New Guinea look to the edges. Morea is quick off the mark and can beat his man with his feet if given half a chance. In the middle, Junior Rop will demand attention working up the field. The Hunters rank 5th in offloads and Rop has thrown 13 in their last five games himself.
It’s a different week for the Seagulls as they face an unfamiliar trip to Papua New Guinea. With only three competition points separating 3rd and 9th on the ladder, Tweed can climb back into the top six with a victory on Saturday.
Player To Watch
Kaleb Ngamanu is into his second season with the top side and is improving every week on the wing. The 20-year-old has scored nine tries in his 13 appearances this year but it’s his work in yardage that is often most noticeable. He’s never afraid to get involved with a tough carry. His footwork and leg drive allow him to push through the tackle when he does spot half a gap, too. Averaging 161 metres per game, he leads all Seagulls players in yardage and ranks 9th in the Hostplus Cup overall (min. 5 games).
Lee Turner has been one of the most productive attacking players in the competition so far this season and is back in the centres for Round 11. With four tries and six try assists in nine games, the 24-year-old is averaging over one try involvement per game. He’s adding a career-high 123 running metres and 3.2 tackle breaks among the point-scoring plays, too. In fine form and against a Hunters that has struggled in defence at times this season, Turner is set to have a big impact this week.
Coaches Comments
The Seagulls will be eager to get back to their winning ways after a tough loss last week.
“They [Wynnum-Manly] were down on troops so they had blokes turn up and they were just really enthusiastic, ran hard, and did all of the simple things really well. If you do that you always put yourself in with a chance,” Penna said.
“It’s one of those things we’ve just got to move on from, learn from where we went wrong and try to get ourselves back into playing our footy.”
It won’t be easy this week while travelling to Papua New Guinea to take on a physical Hunters outfit.
“We’ve got a bit of travel so it’s been a week where we’ve really focused on ourselves as a team,” said Penna.
“They’re a fantastic team – I love watching them play. They’re physical and aggressive, they run hard they love what they do. We’re going to have to play for 80 minutes and be on our game to even go close to them, so that will be our challenge for Saturday.”
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
Our aim at Rugby League Writers:
The Pub Test is a classic rugby league reference. Heck, the NRL have changed rules based on what they think does and doesn’t pass The Pub Test. We want YOU to be the most informed person at that pub. By digging into the best players, teams, shapes and schemes, we observe the game through an analytical lense and piece it all together through weekly previews, reviews, newsletters and features.
Related Posts
