The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls will take their Round 16 clash with the Ipswich Jets to Bauhinia Park in Springsure this Saturday, 23rd July at 3:30pm as part of the QRL Hostplus Cup’s Country Round initiative.
Saturday’s game is the fourth consecutive away game for the Seagulls who have travelled to Rockhampton, Redcliffe and the Sunshine Coast in what has been a challenging month of football for the Tweed based club. The Seagulls have been forced to navigate injuries and NRL call ups to key players throughout that time and have done well to keep in touch with the top eight with five games remaining. As Tweed get some troops back over the coming weeks they will be well positioned to make a deep run into this year’s finals series, but for now it’s all about a Round 16 matchup with the Ipswich Jets.
Saturday’s game profiles as an important one for the Seagulls who will be looking to avoid a logjam in the bottom half of the top eight with finals approaching. Just four competition points seperate the 5th placed Dolphins and the 11th placed Cutters, with Tweed sitting right in the middle of that bunch with seven wins and 16 competition points coming into Round 16.
With one win and two losses from their last three games, Saturday’s clash presents as a winnable game for the Seagulls before they meet with top eight sides Burleigh, Townsville and Brisbane to round out the ‘22 regular season.
The Ipswich Jets bring a very different form line into Round 16, having won three of their last four games and averaging a convincing 24 points per game throughout that period. It’s a far cry from the Jets’ start to the year, where they lost their first 10 games and scored more than 20 points on just two occasions.
It was a meeting with the Tweed Seagulls at North Ipswich Reserve in Round 11 that marked a turnaround in the Jets’ 2022 season and that is sure to add some feeling to this weekend’s contest.
The Jets came to life either side of the break in that game to score six tries and threaten a huge upset against the then-sixth placed Seagulls. Two late tries to Sosefo Fifita and Ioane Seiuli sealed the result for Tweed in that game, but with Fifita named to play for the Gold Coast Titans this week the Seagulls will need to look elsewhere for points on Saturday.
Players to Watch
With 121 NRL games worth of skill and experience named at left centre for the second week in a row, Brian Kelly is again a player to watch for the Seagulls in Round 16.
Playing in his first Hostplus Cup game of the season last week, Kelly took 21 carries for a game-high 223 metres (81m in post-contact) against the Falcons, busting eight tackles and throwing three offloads along the way. Kelly has always been a destructive runner of the ball and was a welcome addition to a Tweed backline last week that is still missing reliable yardage men in Ryland Jacobs (leg injury) and Paul Turner (Gold Coast Titans) when working out the back of the field.
Kelly’s appearance for the Seagulls in Round 15 pushed regular left-centre Lee Turner to the other side of the field while backrower-turned-centre Ioane Seiuli lined up on the wing. The Seagulls’ back five combined for 795 running metres last week to keep Tweed competitive in yardage and it’s a testament to the Falcons’ defensive resolve that they were able to win last week with just 44% of the ball. With the same backline named to take on the Jets this weekend, Tweed will be confident of working off their own line effectively and starting their sets on the front foot.
From there, it’s the Seagulls’ left edge that has looked most likely with the ball in recent weeks and we can expect Tweed to search for points down that channel on Saturday.
Backrower Joshua Patston was the beneficiary of a left-dominant offence last week, with the workman-like forward troubling the scoreboard twice against the Falcons thanks to Lindon McGrady’s short kicking game in good ball.
Once in the first half and then again in the second, McGrady took possession in a left-side shift and dropped the ball onto the boot and into space behind Sunshine Coast’s line. Patston showed great skill to scoop the first grubber off his laces and through traffic, and then was quick enough to beat Falcon’s fullback Luke Polselli to the ball for his second.
Aside from McGrady’s involvements from fullback, the combination of Patston and five-eighth Will Brimson is one the Seagulls can look to in good-ball on Saturday, particularly with the threat Brain Kelly poses to the defence outside them. The temptation might be to play wide to Kelly on the edges but if Brimson can straighten up the attack and have McGrady and Kelly threatening out wide, the space might open up for Patston off his hip.
Patston runs a great backrowers’ line and is skilful enough to get a pass away through or at the line to a teammate in support. Throw in the kicking threat of McGrady and Brimson’s own ability as a ball runner and the left edge is an area of strength for the Seagulls coming into Round 16.
Team List
- Lindon McGrady
- Ioane Șeiuli
- Lee Turner
- Brian Kelly
- Scott Galeano
- Will Brimson
- Thomas Weaver
- JJ Collins
- Blake Scott
- Sam Lisone
- Joshua Patson
- Charlie Murray
- Braden Robson
- Craig Garvey
- Reece Summer
- Lamar Manuel-Liolevave
- Reuben Porter
- Daniel Ross
Match Details
Round 16 v Ipswich Jets
Saturday 23rd July @ Bauhinia Park, Springsure
Kick-off: 3:30pm
Streaming via QPlus.tv (subscription required)
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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