The Gold Coast Airport Tweed Seagulls travelled to BMD Kougari Oval to take on the Wynnum Manly Seagulls but couldn’t keep up with the hosts in the second half. Down only 10-6 at the break, Tweed gave up too many points shortly after halftime on their way to a 32-10 defeat.
Tweed found themselves on the backfoot following Wynnum Manly early points. Having defended the set well and applied enough kick pressure to force the ball out of the half’s hands, Rease Casey put up a prayer that landed short of Bridget Hoy on the right wing. The bouncing ball went in favour of the home side for Jayde Herdegen to open the scoring just one minute in.
It wasn’t long before Tweed answered back, though. Executing on a superb yardage set, Daisy Gordon got things started by skirting to the outside to get into the Wynnum Manly half. Jessika Elliston’s offload through the middle put Tweed hot on the attack and with the defensive line struggling to get back, the visitors sent the ball wide to find Hoy in the corner to level things up.
Wynnum Manly played with a plan to get Shaylee Bent involved on the right edge. Her footwork makes her a dangerous prospect running a short line, but the Tweed defence kept her covered and managed to force an error and spend some time with the ball themselves.
Three consecutive Wynnum Manly knock-ons presented Tweed with the lengthy period in attack. Gloria-Hannah Murray-Fiu went close to forcing her way over just as she did earlier in the season while Jetaya Faifua’s footwork caused trouble stepping back in against the grain. Kaitlyn Phillps found herself on the end of a Faifua short ball to go painfuly close to the line before Jamie Chapman had the ball stripped as she looked to burrow over. A barnstorming Elliston carry ended with the Tweed prop held up over the line. A similar carry from Zara Canfield ended with the defence kicking the ball from her hands and a Tweed penalty. Despite pushing and pushing for points, the visitors couldn’t cross the line as the period in attack ended with an error.
Wynnum Manly had no such troubles on their return visit to the Tweed 20-metre line. Following on from a Julia Robinson run off a scrum, Lilly Green made it 10-6 in favour of the home side.
The score stuck through to the break but the feeling was that Tweed left points out there and should have been eating their oranges level if not in front.
The second half started in the same was as the first with Wynnum Manly extending their lead early. Shaniah Power pushed her way towards the line before Patrice Chambers fell over it on the following tackle for a 16-6 Wynnum Manly lead.
Robinson found regular success charging down the left edge, putting Wynnum Manly in position to attack close to the line. Those carries soon turned into more points as Casey forced her way over from dummy half to score.
Down the left edge again, Power pushed Wynnum Manly’s lead out to 20 points as Tweed struggled to play themselves into the second half. On the back foot defensively and failing to hold the ball in attack, the visitors couldn’t get into the grind. Despite not scoring throughout their time inside the opposition’s 20-metre line, they’d shown enough to suggest points weren’t far off if they could get back into that area of the field. However, Wynnum Manly dominated possession and rarely gave Tweed a chance.
Ellie Williamson scored her first try of the season on Tweeds’ first visit to the Wynnum Manly line in the second half. Again confirming their threat with the ball provided they could maintain possession, they gave themselves ten minutes to claw back a 30-10 deficit.
A kickoff out on the full and busting Elliston carry added more life to the potential of a comeback, but another dropped ball soon ended it. Just as she had done all afternoon, Robinson put Wynnum Manly on the front foot off a scrum, and Destiny Mino-Sinapatai turned the field position into points to reclaim their unassailable lead.
The final 34-10 score doesn’t quite do Tweed justice. They played well for periods and looked dangerous with the ball in hand, but some poor hands let them down and the resulting pressure proved too much in the end.
Key Takeaways
Jessika Elliston recently re-signed with the Gold Coast Titans NRLW side and you can see why based on this performance alone. She’s a strong carrier of the ball but it’s her footwork that allows her to pick the space between two defenders and push through the tackle.
She split the defenders to get her arms free and send Zara Canfield into the backfield in the first half.
Canfield was another standout as the Tweed middle held up their end of the bargain when in possession. When able to maintain possession, Tweed didn’t have too many problems getting up the field through their two hard-working middles. However, errors and the extra defensive work they created proved too much as Wynnum Manly ran away with it in the second half.
Bridget Hoy hadn’t been seen since Round 2 but her work in yardage became noticeable as the Tweed forwards tired. Getting into dummy half and in behind the ruck she triggered one of their better periods in the second half. Through Hoy, Chapman and Gordon, the Seagulls aren’t short of attacking potential if they can get the ball to their back-three more often.
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
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