Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, played host to the Northern Pride at Piggabeen Sports Complex in Round 20 but the visitors left with the competition points.
The Pride earned the first good opportunity in attack but the Seagulls defence turned them away in a positive defensive start for the home side.
The contrasting styles of the two teams in yardage translated into an early arm-wrestle as Tweed searched for easy metres on the edges while the Pride took a more direct approach one-off the ruck through the middle.
A Lindon McGrady linebreak from a kick return threatened to break the game open, but his error let the visitors off the hook. It wasn’t long before a penalty provided Tweed with their first chance for points, though.
Tom Weaver continued to display his development as a ball player by sending Treymain Spry over the line in the 7th minute. Starting straight on his run before skipping out and using a lead runner to every so slightly engage the three-in defender, the young half threw a perfect out-ball for Spry to barge over for the opener.
Tweed took the opportunity after points to pin the Pride deep in their own end before Kruise Leeming broke into the backfield on the following set. While the hooker’s linebreak ended in an error, it exposed an area in the opposition where Leeming found regular success throughout the match.
The right edge continued to look a fruitful avenue for the Seagulls as Ioane Seiuli went close down the sideline but the Pride managed to level the scores in the 16th minute when Ewan Moore hit and spun his way over the line.
Tweed answered back with a strong yardage set; targeting the space around the ruck for easy metres up the field. Leeming looked to play Lamar Manuel-Liolevave over close to the line only for the defence to pull him down just short. Looking the more dangerous of the two teams with the ball, Tweed retook the lead in the 25th minute.
A strong Brent Woolf carry ahead of a Leeming offload scrambled the defensive line and left them short on the edge. Spotting the advantage, Will Brimson took it deep into the line before cutting out his backrower and finding Lee Turner to score.
Coach Dave Penna spoke during the week about the importance of completing sets against a high-possession and high-completion side like the Pride. Still, errors around halfway kept the door ajar for the opposition and it wasn’t long before Moore scored his second to bring the scores back level at 12-all.
While being named in the centres and filling the spot in attack, Spry often defended on the wing to end sets. As a powerful ball carrier on returns, it was only a matter of time before he broke into the backfield and contributed to points. Pushing up following Spry’s lengthy carry, McGrady stepped back inside while getting his arms free to release an offload to Kaleb Ngamanu who dotted down under the sticks to see Tweed go into the sheds with an 18-12 lead.
The trend of the first half continued in the second as the Pride once again answered back to points with some of their own. Moore’s third try of the afternoon pulled the visitors level. Unfortunately for Tweed, the trend of errors around halfway continued, too. While threatening, Will Brimson’s wrap around the left edge was ruled as an obstruction with the Pride taking the bonus field poison and turning it into a 22-18 lead through Daniel Woodhouse on the left wing.
In desperate need of something to swing momentum, Tweed earned it through a strong defensive set leading to a shanked kick on the last. Brimson’s grubber to end the following set left Seamus King-Smith to scramble out of his own corner. With pressure building, a big Ngamanu tackle on Dantoray Lui produced an error putting Tweed hot on the attack but the 5th-tackle kick ended up with Justin Frain under the posts for the visitors.
The try and ten-point deficit lit a spark in the Seagulls. Consecutive completed sets and an inspired yardage game ended with Joe Vuna crashing over to leave Tweed with eight minutes to chase four points.
The idea of a late comeback took a hit when Luke Burton was marched to the bin. Pulled back and held down long after the tackle, Burton voiced his displeasure and spent the last four minutes sitting on the sideline. With the penalty and extra man, Jaymon Moore put the game beyond doubt for the Pride to claim a 34-24 win.
Defeat leaves the Seagulls on the edge of the Top 8 given the congested ladder. However, with two games at home against the Jets and Falcons to come and a superior points differential to those around them, they remain in the frame of finals footy with two rounds to play.
Key Takeaways
Tweed has two more games to iron out and execute the game plan across 80 minutes.
When maintaining possession and forcing the opposition to work out of their own end, few teams in the Hostplus Cup can keep up with the Seagulls. Their attack is among the best in the competition and can always be relied upon to produce points if given enough chance to attack close to the line.
However, failing to complete cost them too many chances with the ball and provided the Pride with too many this week.
Coaches Comments
It’s not the first time this season that Dave Penna and the Seagulls have been left counting the cost of errors and a low completion rate. Struggling to get into the grind, they gave the Pride too many chances with the ball.
“It’s an attitude thing for us,” Penna said.
“When we want to play footy we look good. We got in front a couple of times but couldn’t go on with it.”
The attitude changed in the last ten minutes when forced to chase a ten-point deficit but it was too little too late.
“We scored our tries too easy,” said Penna.
“We didn’t earn them and ended up falling over in the end.”
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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