Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, bounced back from their Round 15 defeat to beat the Norths Devils 30-16 at Bishop Park, Brisbane.
Tweed threatened in their first visit into the Devils 20. Compressing the middle through a strong Lamar Manuel-Liolevave carry, Tom Weaver floated a pass over to Ryland Jacobs, but the Seagulls winger couldn’t stay in the field of play.
The Devils responded with a close call of their own as Bryce Donovan went near enough to be called for a double movement as he promoted the football over the line. Tweed used the penalty to surge up the field and turn the ball over one metre short of the Norths line. Coach Dave Penna has repeatedly spoken about where on the field the Seagulls turn the ball over and that seemed to be the focus early on in this one. Taking control of the territory battle and earning more tackles inside the Devils’ 20, Kruise Leeming produced an exceptional individual try to open the scoring.
Manuel-Liolevave again acted as the trigger before Leeming jumped out from dummy half and rolled one in behind the defensive line to regather himself.
Leeming became the distributor on the next set.
Spotting the defender slow to marker, Leeming jumped out and followed him back into the line, beating him back on the inside and handing a pass off to Luke Burton pushing up in support.
Norths didn’t do themselves any favours by giving away a penalty in their kickoff set in defence. With the extra field position Tweed once again looked to turn the ball over in strong areas, forcing a knock-on out of the Devils centre and another set in attack. Treymain Spry only needed one tackle to turn it into points as he stood up his opposite and flicked a pass out the back to Jacobs on the touchline for an 18-0 lead only 20 minutes into the match.
Tweed managed to force errors out of the Devils but one of their own soon turned into points for the home side. Collecting a knock-on from inside their own half and flying up the field, the Devils used the rare opportunity to attack the Seagulls line to cut the deficit to 14 through Jonathon Reuben.
Conceding points refocused the Seagulls attack as they once again returned to what worked: Turning the ball over close to the opposition line and building pressure. An unlucky bounce of the ball away from a sprawling Jacobs is all that stopped Tweed from adding to their lead before the break.
Tweed regained control of the territory battle early on in the second half. A Will Brimson kick forced the Devils to work deep out of their own end before only being able to kick it to the Seagulls 30 metre line in response. However, a heavy Lindon McGrady grubber provided the Devils with seven tackles and Reuben scored his second to make it 18-10 in the 50th minute.
One try became two for the Devils as they cut the deficit to two points on the following set through Kahli Junior Kali.
The reintroduction of Manuel-Liolevave added some starch to the Seagulls middle. Leeming’s speed around the ruck helped to move the side up the field as fatigue started to play its part in the defence. But unlike the first half where Tweed completed their sets and finished them in strong positions, errors, strips and yardage penalties plagued them in the second.
Desperate to stop the rut and regain their sizeable lead, Tweed looked to their dangerous right edge in yardage. Again Leeming’s speed proved pivotal in the action as he spotted a big middle defending on the short side before sending Spry down the sideline. Returning the ball back to the left edge, Jacob McCudden found a blade of white grass with the ball as he crashed over the line in the 62nd minute.
Rinse and repeat for the match winner.
A Leeming scoot at speed ended with Spry breaking through the line and dotting down under the posts for a 30-16 lead heading into the final six minutes.
Maintaining the margin through to the final whistle, the Seagulls picked up a valuable two competition points to jump back into the Top 8 ahead of an emotional fixture against the Redcliffe Dolphins for the Liam Hampson Cup on Sunday afternoon.
Key Takeaways
Featuring for the third time in Tweed colours, Kruise Leeming produced his best performance so far for the club in this one.
Credit first needs to go to the pack. Lamar Manuel-Liolevave, Luke Burton and Jaron Purcell laid the platform early on to get Tweed up the field. Leeming did his best work around players slow to marker, and it’s the destructive carries of his middles that slow them down.
Using his speed to jump out from dummy half and engage middle defenders, Leeming created more space for his edges and played a major part in Tweed piling up 30 points.
“He’s a quality player,” Penna said after the match.
“He doesn’t get much footy up at the top but his attitude when he comes to us is second to none.”
Coaches Comments
Coach Dave Penna was pleased with his team’s response to their loss a week earlier.
“It was a tough week last week but the bounceback today was very pleasing,” Penna said.
The response revolved around a strong start as Tweed turned pressure into points.
“It’s just how we need to play footy,” Penna said.
“Give ourselves an opportunity in good ball and hang onto it.
“Our completions aren’t where they need to be but it’s something that we’re aware of and the boys are working really hard at it. It’s just hard when you’re trying to play footy and preserve the ball as well. At times it’s a fine line but the more when can hold onto it the better side we are.“
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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