Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, fought back from 18-6 behind in the first half before coming up painstakingly short in the second, falling to the Redcliffe Dolphins 26-24 at Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast.
The long pass from the opening kickoff gave us some indication of what the Dolphins had planned for the afternoon. In tip-top conditions on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the Dolphins surged up the field and forced a turnover out of Ryland Jacobs to put the Seagulls defence under early pressure. However, a perfect trap and scrap saw Kruise Leeming fly 40 metres up the field for Tweed to start playing themselves into the match with the ball.
On 5th tackle with the defence still scrambled, Tom Weaver spied an opportunity for the Seagulls to run the ball from 30 metres out. Using a lead runner to occupy the three and four in defenders, Weaver ran deep into the line before firing the ball wide for Kaleb Ngamanu to open the scoring.
Sheldon Pitama went close to levelling the scores shortly after but a desperate Luke Burton tackle stopped the scheming Dolphins hooker from crossing the line. Tweed could only keep them out for a minute longer, though. A Cody Hunter chip kick into the in-goal ended with Levi Wilson falling on the ball for a 6-all scoreboard after 14 minutes.
Pitama and Trai Fuller continued to cause havoc around the Seagulls ruck as the pair linked up to push the Dolphins up the field out of yardage. Where Tweed were forced to kick long to finish their sets, Redcliffe kicked from attacking positions. While lucky to get the bounce and strip, by kicking from only 40 metres out, the Dolphins were in a position to make the most of their luck and pull 12-6 ahead via Tyson Cleal.
Defending the kickoff set and desperate get into the arm wrestle Tweed had no trouble getting up the field to turn the ball over 10 metres from the line. Like his opposite, Kruise Leeming found joy around the ruck in yardage. However, fortuitous outcome from a kick contest ended with the Dolphins setting a scrum 20 metres out for James Walsh to score.
More than competitive in yardage and lethal in good ball, Tweed found themselves 18-6 behind. Needing some luck or a call themselves, a relieving penalty put the Seagulls into attacking position, and just as they did earlier in the match when within striking distance, a long shift opened up the middle of the defence for Jaron Purcell to crash through on the following tackle.
A Will Brimson intercept turned Tweeds’ defence into attack shortly before halftime but the 18-12 scoreline held through to oranges.
Tweed returned straight back to their shifting attack out of yardage to end their first set of the second half with a kick from 20 metres out. With it, a favourable bounce and some Ioane Seiuli magic returned the game to level pegging.
As the game developed into an arm wrestle, field position and set completions became crucial. A Fuller grubber forced a Tweed dropout but Lee Turner managed to reel in a short one to end the Redcliffe attacking raid.
The Seagulls waited for their moment, pinning the Dolphins in their own end and trusting their defence to maintain the ascendency in field position.
That moment came in the 59th minute when presented with a full attacking set inside the Dolphins’ 20-metre line.
Brimson and Ngamanu linked up to ice the opportunity and give Tweed the lead for the first time since the 11th minute of the match.
It wouldn’t last to the final whistle, though.
Once again the Dolphins managed to force a dropout but McGrady’s short grubber quickly turned possession. A bouncing ball into touch was soon deemed to have been touched by a Seagulls player presenting the Dolphins with a full set attacking the line. However, Spry’s jamming tackle ended the raid.
But a Tweed error in yardage kept the door ajar and Fuller walked through it to score with seven minutes to play.
A Purcell error turned the ball over only 30 metres from the Tweed line. Desperately looking to wrap up the ball and stop an offload in the ensuing set, Weaver’s strip penalty allowed Hunter to kick the Dolphins 26-24 in front.
Hearts raced to finish. A Redcliffe error gave Tweed one last throw of the dice. Looking for Treymain Spry from the scrum, the big centre juggled a pass but kept hold of it for one last shift. A looping McGrady pass went close to putting Ngamanu over in the corner, but in the end, a scrambling Dolphins defence held on for a 26-24 win.
Key Takeaways
The Tweed attack continues to play as one of the best in the competition. Despite Redcliffe scoring three tries in 12 minutes throughout the middling period of the first half, it always felt as though it wouldn’t take much for Tweed to play themselves back into the game.
When given the chance, Weaver, Brimson and McGrady manufactured points with the left edge especially dangerous throughout. However, by turning the ball over in the wrong parts of the field, Tweed couldn’t generate enough chances to attack the line and pile up the points needed for victory.
McGrady’s ability to turn an opposition forced dropout into Tweed possession is incredible. Twice he managed to pull off the squib kick to flip possession at important moments.
Coaches Comments
Coach Dave Penna only needed one word to sum up the match.
“Frustrating.”
“There are plenty of positives to take out of it,” Penna said.
“We played some good footy. Some boys had some good games but we killed ourselves in the end. Errors in the wrong places at the wrong times and not defending kicks. It’s an Achilles heel of ours and we’ve got to get rid of it if we’re to go any further in this competition.”
There was a period in the match when it looked as though Tweed had put themselves in a position to go on with it.
“We got in front and just had to keep grinding away but kept coming up with errors,” said Penna.
“We just can’t afford to not compete in these areas.”
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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