Round 5 Match Review – QRL Hostplus vs Wynnum Manly Seagulls

Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, didn’t let an early Wynnum Manly Seagulls try get to them as they responded with 44 points of their own to convincingly beat their namesake at BMD Kougari Oval, Brisbane.

It’s not how Dave Penna will have drawn it up, but the Tweed Seagulls grew in confidence after defending early penalties and errors on their line. Both left and right, the Tweed defence slid well to cover the Wynnum Manly shifts before looking to play themselves into the game. However, an error out of yardage again put the Tweed defence under pressure which Wynnum Manly this time turned into points after forcing a repeat set.

Looking short on the dropout, Tweed couldn’t reel it in which allowed Gideon Gela-Mosby to open the scoring.

Wynnum Manly dominated possession early, but when Tweed finally spent some time with the ball, they quickly levelled up the scoreboard. A long shift from the right post ended with Ryland Jacobs dotting down in the corner for their first.

A strong yardage set settled Tweed after a fairly frantic start as the game worked into a grind. Both teams managed to get themselves into positions to put up attacking bombs but a ruck infringement provided Tweed with the chance to attack inside the opposition’s 20 and put themselves in front on the scoreboard. Again, it won’t be how they drew it up. Lindon McGrady’s pass pinged off Jacob McCudden’s head before the big backrower fell on the ball for a 10-4 lead.

Wynnum Manly did themselves no favours as the possession numbers started to sway in favour of Tweed. A penalty for taking out Tom Weaver’s legs on the kick put the visitors hot on the attack once again. But as Josh Rodgers collected a loose ball against the run of play and ran Wynnum Manly deep into their own half, the Tweed defence couldn’t collect themselves and Bailey Hartwig soon found himself through a hole and over the line.

Tweed went back to what worked in response to conceding. They found regular success out wide in yardage. Weaver looked to get on the outside of the three-in defender on the left edge. On the right, Jojo Fifita let go of an incredible offload for Treymain Spry to get on the outside. Soon enough, and after forcing an error out of Wynnum Manly, Jacobs scored his second to put Tweed 16-8 in front.

The Tweed left edge continued to pile up points when given the chance. On the first shift, Lindon McGrady played short to McCudden who crashed the ball just short of the line. After settling back to the middle of the field, McGrady and the Seagulls returned to the left edge running the same shape. Lee Turner this time managed to release an offload to Will Brimson who followed him around the back as Tweed extended their lead to 22-8.

Wynnum Manly looked wide in a desperate search for points before halftime. However, an error gave Tweed one last chance to extend their lead further before oranges. Looking wide themselves, McGrady bounced out of a jamming tackle to send Fifita streaking down the sideline. With only the fullback to beat, Fifita stepped inside and under the posts for Tweed to enter the sheds 20 points in front.

Tweed, or Fifita, in particular, took off in the second half from where he left the first. Spry skipped to the outside of his man to put Fifita over in the corner in the first minute after halftime. However, the touch judge saw something to take it away from the Tweed winger.

A Kalolo Saitaua try brought the home crowd back into it and Wynnum Manly to within 14 points. Those in the home stand cheered on a strong yardage set after points looking to spark their side into a comeback. A Brendan Frei error soon sent a groan around the ground, though. Jacobs’ third try two minutes later turned into silence. Again it came through Tweeds’ left edge, and again it came through Turner. Weaver’s long pass put him into the space, but Brimson’s decoy inside and Turner’s footwork with the ball in the air put him through the line before finding Jacobs in the corner.

Wynnum Manly needed to score next and did so through Rodgers in the 56th minute. Coach Penna responded by reintroducing Brent Woolf and Ryan James back into the game. Right on cue, Woolf threw himself into a tackle from the kickoff to force an error and gift Tweed possession in attacking territory.

Gelea-Mosby’s nightmare on the Wynnum Manly right edge continued as he punched the ball out of play to close down one shift. Looking right shortly after, Spry’s pass couldn’t find Fifita on the full. Still, the winger cut back in and up the field to scramble the defensive line. Klese Haas took his opportunity close to the line to crash over for his first of the season and Tweed’s seventh of the afternoon

Desperation set in for Wynnum Manly who unsuccessfully looked short on the kickoff. Again in position to attack the line, a forward pass call stopped Jacobs from scoring his fourth.

A consolation try for Ollie Pascoe off the bench added some respectability to the scoreboard for Wynnum Manly. However, Tweed looked comfortable for most of the match after conceding early. Having played out strong periods in every game this season, Tweed kept their foot down in this one. They continued to play to areas they found success and piled up points across the 80 minutes. The last via some Spry magic shortly before full-time.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon at BMD Kougari Oval, the Tweed Seagulls made the most of the attacking conditions to run up a score on their rivals before heading back down the highway with a 44-26 win.

Key Takeaways

With no Toby Sexton there this week and a new-look spine around him, this match acted as a great opportunity for Tom Weaver to increase his influence on the side. He has thrown some lovely balls already this year and collected five try assists, but this week might be his best performance of the season so far. While he didn’t record a typical try assist in this one, Weaver played a key role in Tweed’s dismantling of the Wynnum Manly edge defence.

On the left side Weaver passed Lee Turner into space for the centre to record one of his four try assists for the afternoon. Not long after but on the right side this time, Weaver passed Treymain Spry to the outside of his man before Jojo Fifita crashed over in the corner.

While the attacking plays will end up in the highlights packages, Penna is quick to highlight the work he’s doing in defence.

“He’s getting better every week,” Penna said after the game.

“Defensively Tommy was great. Everybody wants to wrap him for the other things he’s doing, but he’s working really, really hard on his defence. I thought he did a really good job at that today.”

Coaches Comments

While the points look good on the scoreboard Coach Penna was most pleased with how the group played together across the full 80 minutes this week.

“The pleasing part was how the boys really rallied for one another,” Penna said.

“I thought we did that against Burleigh. It was a shame it finished the way it did, but I was really happy with the way they played and they continued to do that. We were a bit smarter with the footy and it was a good result.”

Some of those smarts were directed towards the left edge where Tweed caught their opposition with players defending in unfamiliar positions.

“We sent the message out but we’d trained all week just to play those shapes on either side of the ruck. The boys just played what they see in front of them, so it worked out well for us today.”

Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media

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