Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, has held off a fast-finishing Norths Devils to win 32-26 in a heart-stopper at the Piggabeen Sports Complex.
Toby Sexton’s kicking game allowed the Seagulls to get off to a flier. His 5th-tackle bomb to end a strong yardage set landed just short of the line. As Jack Ahearn defused the bomb, Treymain Spry and Jaron Purcell cleaned him up and forced him back in goal. With the extra set of six, the Seagulls played to the right post and sent the ball left where Jaylan De Groot skipped through a huge hole to score. Sexton deserves another mention for his involvement in straightening the line through the middle.
Tweed continued to build pressure after the Devils kickoff sailed out on the full. While they couldn’t turn another attacking set into points, they again looked dangerous down the left edge with Sexton, in particular, organising the play and putting a dangerous Seagulls backline in positions to ask questions of the defence.
Ryland Jacobs started in the relatively unfamiliar position of dummy half but looked more than comfortable behind the ruck. Jumping out and getting up the field, his quick play-the-ball turned into more of the same from De Groot and the Seagulls used the momentum to score their second of the afternoon.
With the defensive line on the back foot, Sexton only ever looked like running it on the last. He moved the ball quickly to the left edge before taking it back from Tom Weaver and crashing over for a 12-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Sexton and the Tweed left edge continued to find success with a third try coming only minutes later. Some deception through the middle with Lamar Manuel-Liolevave hanging off his hip compressed the defence as Daniel Ross ran a hard decoy. With the defence disconnected, Weaver simply had to shovel a short ball onto Jacob McCudden to score Tweed’s third try inside 16 minutes.
Like the first, it came on the back of a Seagulls repeat set. And, again like the first, the Devils kickoff sailed out on the full to send the home side straight back into good ball.
Sexton worked the Seagulls middle to the same point and looked to run the same shape that translated into points two minutes earlier. He played short this time but his work with the ball constantly stressed the Devils defensive line.
Norths finally spent some time with the ball as the clock went ahead of Tweed’s point total in the 19th minute. However, their dangerous tackle to end a powerful yardage set released all pressure. A late shot on Purcell summed up their frustrations as Sexton knocked over a penalty goal to push the lead out to 20.
Close to perfect in the first quarter of the match, a forward pass and high tackle penalty forced the Seagulls to defend their own line. While the Devils threatened down the left edge with Ahearn heavily involved, the visitors couldn’t find a way through.
In response, Tweed marched up the field and added four more points to their lead. Looking right this time, Sexton again played a leading role. The tempo changes in his run caused havoc on the Devils defensive line as the sweeping Seagulls edge took the space he created to score.
Norths learnt the hard way that you can’t give Spry too much space near the line. Taking the ball one pass off a midfield scrum, he stepped off his left foot as Weaver made the pass, got to the outside of his man, and with the ball in two hands shaping to pass, barged his way over for the Seagulls to take a 30-0 lead five minutes before halftime. Another penalty goal as the siren sounded made it 32-0 by the time the siren sounded.
The Devils desperately needed a fast start to the second half if they wanted to threaten a comeback and Brendan Piakura produced the goods. A well-worked move isolated the big back rower onto the Seagulls halfback for Norths to register their first points of the afternoon.
Another only five minutes later gave life to the idea of the unthinkable. The Devils were throwing caution to the wind, pushing passes, and making the most of what stuck. Five minutes later again and the Devils crossed the line. The changes of angles and short passes proved tough to handle as Ahearn poked his nose through and reached out to pull the Devils to within 16 points.
Tweed simply needed time with the ball to start icing the game. Going back to what worked in the first half and crashing the middle before trusting in Sexton’s boot, the Seagulls started to put an end to the Devils’ push for a comeback.
However, the Devils kept coming. Viko Puliuvea scored under the posts in the 73rd minute. Needing to score again to give themselves one last set to pinch a winner, the Devils worked down the right edge in yardage and kicked in behind the line for Bernard Gregorius to score in the 77th minute. From 32-0 in front, the Seagulls found themselves needing to defend a 32-26 lead with a minute to play.
It ended up closer than they would have liked, but one last defensive effort was enough to secure the win and two competition points.
Key Takeaways
Brent Woolf made a successful return from injury. Playing in his first game since Tweed’s quarter final win over the Brisbane Tigers last year, Woolf came off the bench to spell Ryland Jacobs at dummy half.
It’s difficult to go past Toby Sexton as the Man of the Match. He made it look easy out there at times in the first half. His development in the subtleties of halfback play were clear to see as he used changes in the tempo of his runs to tie up the middle and put them on their heels before sending the ball wide for his backline to find points.
He won’t be credited with the try assist numbers, but he played a leading role in three tries in the first half while scoring another himself.
If not Sexton then Tom Weaver. He kicked well and provided the finishing touches on the edge in another impressive performance. The youngster is getting better every week and the Seagulls attack is getting better with him.
Coach’s Comments
It was all looking good at halftime but coach Dave Penna wasn’t sitting quite so comfortably towards the end.
“I was a little bit nervous towards the backend but the boys did enough,” said Penna.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do on our second half.”
Toby Sexton and Tom Weaver played a big part in that strong first half, and it all started with the kicking game.
“I thought Toby and Tom both had great games,” Penna said.
“Their kicking game was great and they led the team around really well.”
Brent Woolf made his return and will be another leading voice so long as he can stay on the field.
“Brent was great. We played him a bit longer than we needed to but it was great to have him back.”
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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