Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, flew out of the blocks and piled up the points on a visiting Western Clydesdales to win 50-12 at the Piggabeen Sports Complex.
The Seagulls didn’t waste any time in using the perfect conditions for running rugby league to their advantage. Sending the ball wide in the very first shift of the game, Brent Woolf, Tom Weaver and Kaleb Ngamanu backed up down the short side for Lindon McGrady to score not a minute into the match.
The following set tracked similarly with Woolf taking a short side and the Seagulls shifting the ball through the middle out of yardage. It ended similarly, too. As Lamar Manuel-Liolevave won the ruck and took the markers out of play, Woolf took the space, engaged the A defender and forced a legs tackle out of B. With his arms free, Sam McIntyre released an offload for McGrady to have his second four minutes into the match.
It wasn’t until the 8th minute that the Clydesdales saw the football for the first time but they’d only use it once before conceding again. A penalty out of yardage kicked Tweed back into good ball, and with it, McIntyre made the most of a scheming Aaron Schoupp run to catch the defence napping and make it 18-0 in the 11th minute.
It looked as though Tweed had gone over again before the referee blew it up for an obstruction. The Clydesdales used the opportunity to get up the field but Tweed came straight back. Again, Woolf’s deception and speed around the ruck caused havoc as the Seagulls pack rolled forward.
Back into good ball, Tweed added another six points to their lead through Treymain Spry.
Beating the clock 21 minutes into the match, Tweed started to chance their arm. However, an offload to ground turned over possession and translated into Clydesdales points. Melino Fineanganofo used his size to crash over from dummy half and put the visitors on the board.
The Clydesdales took confidence from the points. They found success through offloads and spent an encouraging period attacking the Seagulls line. Fineanganofo went close to scoring his second but a scrambling McGrady produced a try-saving effort and a 12-point swing. Minutes after saving a try at one end, Tweed scored at the other. This time Schoupp found space around the ruck following a Spry carry to crash through two defenders with relative ease.
Fineanganofo’s second made it 30-12 at halftime to provide the visitors with hope of a comeback but Ryland Jacobs put an end to that shortly after the break. It wasn’t the perfect play; Ioane Seiuli wrapped around Lee Turner looking to collect an offload that went to ground. Pushing up in support, Will Brimson cleaned up the scraps to put Jacobs over and extend Tweed’s lead.
Spry’s second shortly after put the result beyond doubt as the game slowed down. Errors and penalties for both sides took the sting out of the match before Turner crashed over to cap off a classic Tweed shift.
Woolf, Weaver, McGrady, Brimson – try time.
Hnaloan Budden managed a consolation try for the visitors but with 50 in sight, Tweed made one last push for points to score as time expired.
Brimson’s half-break scrambled the defence and with Schoupp filling up down the short side, Woolf found the centre-turned-backrower to put the icing on a dominant Tweed win.
Strong through the middle up the field and clinical in good ball, it all came together for the Seagulls to crack 50 points for the first time since Round 8 in 2021.
Key Takeaways
Aaron Schoupp is a new name plenty will recognise on the team sheet this week. The Gold Coast Titans centre lined up in the #12 jersey in his first game for the Seagulls.
Finishing up with a double to go with 122 running metres, two line breaks, a line break assist, a try assists and a whopping 12 tackle breaks, he certainly had a big impact on the side and will be one to watch in the coming weeks if he remains at Cup level.
Brent Woolf continues to improve in his comeback from an injury-disrupted 2022 season. He played arguably his best game of the year so far as he orchestrated a hot start for the hosts. Shaping one way before jumping out the other, skipping out to engage the markers, passing the forwards onto the ball, he toyed with the defence at times.
Woolf working on the back of a bouncing Jacobs carry is becoming a hallmark of Tweed’s yardage sequences and often puts the team on the front foot ahead of a wide-ranging shift over halfway.
His numbers don’t begin to sum up the impact he had on the attack this week.
Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
Our aim at Rugby League Writers:
The Pub Test is a classic rugby league reference. Heck, the NRL have changed rules based on what they think does and doesn’t pass The Pub Test. We want YOU to be the most informed person at that pub. By digging into the best players, teams, shapes and schemes, we observe the game through an analytical lense and piece it all together through weekly previews, reviews, newsletters and features.
Related Posts
