Round 12 Match Review – QRL Hostplus Cup vs PNG Hunters

Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, kept up with the Papua New Guinea Hunters before falling away late in their 34-18 loss at PNG Football Stadium, Port Moresby.

Toby Sexton put the Seagulls on the board early. On the back of two big defensive sets pinning the Hunters in their own end of the field, Tweed earned six again in good ball. With it, Sexton showed inside, straightened on his run, sold a dummy wide and crashed his way over the line.

 

 

 

The Hunters were allowed to answer right back, though.

Turning the ball over on the kick return, Tweed found themselves on defence after points. Morea Morea looked to break through off the scrum. Shortly after, Tommy Moide found some space around the ruck to barge his way over a level the scores.

Both teams found success in yardage throughout the first half. Neither was left wanting for opportunities to attack in good ball. The Tweed right edge looked dangerous through Sexton but the Hunters left edge defence jammed well to shut down the play. As Sexton looked left, the Hunters right edge responded in the same way.

Awarded a penalty to soon return to the Hunters’ 20-metre line, the Seagulls made it count. Holding the pass this time as the Hunters edge looked to get out at the Tweed outside backs, a show and go saw McGrady skip through the line for a 12-6 lead after 17 minutes.

 

 

While the Seagulls searched down the edges in good ball, the Hunters looked to bash the door down through the middle. Judah Rimbu played short around the ruck to his big forwards charging at the line. When that didn’t work, Joshua Mire rolled one into the in-goal for Junior Igila to bring the scores level in the 31st minute.

One try became two as the Hunters built a lead heading into the break. Again, Tweed wasn’t short of opportunities to score with two scrums and a penalty on the Hunters line after conceding points. However, the Hunters defence scrambled well before Morea scored as the halftime siren sounded.

The middle started to open up for the Hunters in yardage to end the first half but Tweed looked the stronger of the two teams through the middle to start the second. However, Jacob McCuddon and Lee Turner errors broke down the play while attacking the line to leave points out on the field while Oskar Bryant was pulled back centimetres from scoring throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Having weathered the storm, an inspired Junior Rop carry and offload ended with Roderick Tai crossing over in the corner.

Rop’s error on the kickoff provided Tweed with an opportunity to answer back. A Rop penalty for a shoulder charge extended their time attacking the line. But as had been the case earlier, an error close to the line ended the attacking raid. This time, Lindon McGrady was said to have lost possession as he forced his way over the line down the left edge.

It looked as though one try would see the Seagulls fly home with a wet sail. The left edge had proven dangerous enough throughout the game to suggest one try might become two or three in quick succession. An attacking scrum ten metres from the Hunters line put the Seagulls in position to score the first one. Again, the left edge looked likely as Mavoko’s hand stopped McCudden’s slip line from producing points. A Mavoko tackle soon did the same again as Tweed continued to ask plenty of questions down that side of the field.

The theme of the day continued as the Hunters put the game to bed in the 72nd minute. Looking to shift the ball down the left edge in yardage, Weaver’s pass went to ground and into the hands of Tai who sent Solo Wane over to make it 28-12 with seven minutes to play.

McGrady’s short kickoff in response to Wane’s try didn’t travel ten metres with Rop wrapping up a strong individual performance for the Hunters with a try of his own in the 77th minute.

Tweed’s final play of the match ended in points as Kaleb Ngamanu went over in the corner.

 

 

 

The try does well to sum up how dangerous the Tweed attack looked throughout the 80 minutes only to be thwarted by errors with the line in sight.

Regardless of the points left out there in attack, the Seagulls will be disappointed to concede 30+ in back-to-back weeks. They will now return to home and begin preparing to face the Capras at the Piggabeen Sports Complex on Saturday afternoon.

 

Key Takeaways

The Seagulls weren’t short of try-scoring opportunities and left a lot of points out there in the end.

The Tweed left edge, as it has done all season, looked likely with the ball in hand. Tom Weaver and Toby Sexton created opportunities for those outside them at regular intervals. However, uncharacteristic errors plagued Jacob McCudden, Lee Turner and Lindon McGrady. All three lost the ball with the line in sight throughout the second half. A Hunters hand stopped Ryland Jacobs from going over in the corner in the first half, too.

Through the middle, Joe Vuna made his presence felt. In what can seem like an impossible task when you see how hard the Hunters forwards charge at the line, Vuna matched them in physicality with and without the ball. He ran hard himself and played a big part in how the Seagulls moved up the field. Without the ball, Vuna’s massive shot as a barnstorming Junior Rop returned the kickoff with Tweed down ten points inspired a dangerous period of play as the visitors chased the lead.

 

Coaches Comments

It’s a difficult trip and one that brings with it unique challenges but coach Dave Penna wasn’t making any excuses for his side.

“We started well,” Penna said.

“The boys struggled with the heat but no excuses. We completed at 50% and you can’t win games when you give the opposition that much football.”

“We need to regroup and have a good look at how we want to attack the back end of the season as a team.”