Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, are headed to Clive Berghofer Stadium in Toowoomba for Round 2 of the 2023 Hostplus Cup season.
Dave Penna’s side are looking to build on a strong second half in Round 1. Going down early and trailing 22-4 shortly after the break, the Seagulls recovered to draw level at 22-22 before Anthony Milford knocked over a field goal to secure a Central Queensland Capras win.
The Seagulls also lost captain Lindon McGrady last week but youngsters, Jaylan De Groot and Oskar Bryant, will be better for the run and experience of a difficult day overall. Delays led to a lengthy trip to Rockhampton and the game being pushed out an hour before they could make their Seagulls first-grade debut.
De Groot looked comfortable at fullback in testing conditions to finish up with 105 running metres for the Seagulls. Bryant, who trained with the Gold Coast Titans over the summer and didn’t look out of place at dummy half, is set to come off the bench behind Ryland Jacobs on Saturday. Bryant took his opportunities to run the ball against the Capras and set up a Lloyd Perrett try.
Jacobs’ versatility is again a factor heading into Round 2. He started on the wing, featured in dummy half, and finished the game at five-eighth following McGrady’s injury in the second half.
“Ryland was great,” Penna said after the game.
“He is a great player that always gives 100% and we’re lucky to have him.”
Meanwhile, the Western Clydesdales playing in their inaugural Hostplus Cup season, kicked things off with a 20-10 defeat at the hands of the Papua New Guinea Hunters. Slow to start themselves, two tries on either side of halftime put them in a position to push the Hunters through to the 80th minute.
“They played for 80 minutes,” said Penna.
“They ran hard. Tackled hard. They’ll get better. For a new team, blokes that haven’t played together, they did a really good job.”
The Clydesdales recruited well for their first season in the competition. Jayden Corrigan is experienced at this level and comes into 2023 having scored eight tries in eight games for the Devils last year. Bessie Toomaga is another name Cup fans will recognise after he averaged 107 running metres per game while scoring 12 tries and kicking 45 goals across 18 games for the Brisbane Tigers. The Clydesdales are led by Darryn Schonig who, between appearances for the Melbourne Storm, spent the last three seasons with the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
Players To Watch
Luke Burton has again been named to come off the bench this week. You certainly took notice when he ran out onto the field in Round 1. Running for 67 metres on only five carries, Burton provided great physicality off the bench and played a key role in triggering Tweed’s comeback. With the experience of Lamar Manuel-Liolevave and Daniel Ross to start before Burton bursts into the game before the break, Tweed are a threat through the middle of the field across the full 80 minutes.
The likes of Manuel-Liolevave, Ross and Burton will lay the platform for Tom Weaver to make his third appearance for the Seagulls. Into five-eighth for the injured McGrady, Weaver has been named to link up with Toby Sexton in the halves. The 20-year-old wasn’t given too many opportunities with the ball in his two games last year but impressed in defence. If given room to move, it won’t be long before we see Weaver beat would-be tacklers with a dangerous right foot step.
Coach’s Comments
Those strapping into the game for kickoff last week will have been left confused by the hour delay. However, despite the disrupted game day preparation, Coach Penna wasn’t offering any excuses for a slow start and is confident in a correction this week
“We had a good chat around what we’re doing. We want to work hard early and front-load our energy.” Penna said.
“We did a 12-hour trip that should have only taken us two so it was a long day, but no excuses. We let ourselves down in a couple of departments.”
There were some positives to come out of it, though.
“We had a few young blokes (De Groot and Bryant) out there who learnt plenty from it,” Penna said.
Round 2 is an opportunity to build on what was still an encouraging opener despite the final result.
“Every week we’re trying to be consistent and get better at the things we need to get better at. We’re hoping to get that one step better all the time.”
“We played really well for 40 minutes last week but you need to be consistent for 80 minutes.”
- Jaylan De Groot
- Malachi Morgan
- Ioane Seiuli
- Lee Turner
- Kaleb Ngamanu
- Thomas Weaver
- Toby Sexton
- Lamar Liolevave
- Ryland Jacobs
- Daniel Ross
- Klese Haas
- Jacob McCudden
- Jaron Purcell
- Oskar Bryant
- Luke Burton
- Lloyd Perrett
- Jaleel Seve
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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