Round 9 Match Review – QRL Hostplus Cup vs Souths Logan Magpies

Tweed Seagulls RLFC, proudly backed by the Seagulls Club, travelled north to play the Souths Logan Magpies but fell just short in the 20-14 defeat.

The Seagulls, as they’ve had a habit of doing in recent weeks, registered their first points on the scoreboard early.

Getting to within attacking distance on the last, a Tom Weaver cross-field kick was allowed to bounce and ended up in the hands of Will Brimson. Shovelling it on to Ryland Jacobs out wide, Tweed scored inside the first ten minutes for the fourth consecutive match.

Tweed continued to build pressure after points with Brent Woolf’s kick pinning the Magpies deep in their own territory. However, a relieving penalty returned the game to an arm wrestle through the middle third of the field as both teams waited for the other to make a mistake.

Both teams earned visits inside the opposition’s 20-metre line but left empty-handed as a result of kicks dead, obstruction penalties and forward passes.

A Jacobs error in yardage provided Souths Logan with their chance to score in the 16th minute, though. Looking wide from the scrum, Tristan Sailor laid one on for Jack Smith to bring the scores level at 4-4.

Given a relieving penalty of their own, Tweed soon regained their lead.

Leave one marker with Woolf at dummy half and you’ll be made to pay more often than not. With the fullback filling the line on the openside, Woolf jumped down the blindside on the last to play Brimson onto a defence on their heels. Rolling one in behind, Lee Turner dotted down for an 8-4 Seagulls lead 20 minutes into the match.

As the Magpies threatened to spend an extended period attacking the Seagulls line after earning a forced dropout, Lindon McGrady calmly rolled one past the ten-metre line for Ioane Seiuli to collect.

The Magpies took their first lead of the match shortly before halftime when McGrady couldn’t collect a Sailor grubber in the in-goal area but it didn’t last through to the break. Jordan Pereira failed to defuse a McGrady bomb on the last, and similar to their first try of the night, Tweed was first to the loose ball with Turner carrying it over the line for his second.

The two sides traded errors and penalties early in the second half but managed to piece together an exciting period despite the indiscretions. Souths Logan’s strong one-out yardage game against Tweed’s wide-ranging shifts through the centre third translated into end-to-end footy even though the points didn’t come until the 63rd minute.

Tweed had their moments near the line just as Souths Logan had theirs. Kaleb Ngamanu and Jaron Purcell combined to pull off a stunning try-saver within the back-and-forth contest. However, it was the home side that managed to crack the line.

As the officials looked past a possible obstruction as two Tweed defenders needed to navigate their way around a Magpies player in front of the play, Ethan Quai-Ward put the home side back in front with 15 minutes left on the clock.

A 40/20 put the Magpies straight back on the attack but the Seagulls defence held up – just. Quai-Ward appeared to be on his way to scoring another before losing possession while reaching out for the line.

Tweed weren’t short of opportunities to find a winner. Treymain Spry found success down the right edge but was pulled up just short. A mid-field scrum looked like a prime opportunity to find him again. However, as they searched down the right edge, the set ended in an error and the Magpies managed the game through to the end from there. A late try added another four points but doesn’t do the Tweed defence justice.

The scoring wasn’t there a week after putting up 50. Still, the Seagulls kept themselves in the game through their defence in going down 20-14 at Logan Metro Football Fields, Logan.

Key Takeaways

Luke Burton started in the previous two matches but his physicality really showed to start this one. Whether it be through the middle in yardage or flying off the back fence from the kickoff, Burton’s brutal carries set the tone for Tweed on the night.

In contrast, Lamar Manuel-Liolevave’s constant appearance on and around the ball added a different element to the Seagulls middle. While a strong runner of the ball and more than capable passer when Tweed looks wider, he doesn’t always need to take possession to have an impact. Manuel-Liolevave has a keen eye for the numbers. He often flips late and sits inside the pocket of the halfback to hold up the inside defence and give his ball player the extra half-second to make a play. It’s a small play that can have a big impact and ensured the 27-year-old is involved in the play with or without the ball.

While they weren’t always able to get a roll on this week, the versatility of the Seagulls middle allows them to ask different questions all the way up the field.

Coach’s Comments

Given where the two teams sat on the table leading into this one it wasn’t a surprise to see a close contest play out despite Tweed ending up on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

“We always knew it was going to be a really good game of footy,” coach Dave Penna said.

“We put ourselves in front in the game on three or four occasions but kept handing them the football when they shouldn’t have had it.

“You can’t win those quality games of footy by giving the opposition as much football as you do. Especially a quality opposition like theirs so we’ll go back to the drawing board.”

Souths Logan are one of the better yardage teams in the competition and while Tweed held up for most of the match, small moments proved to be crucial.

“There was a period there before halftime and a period there at the end where we just let them play the ball far too quick and they kept making us come off our own end,” Penna said.

“We just weren’t effective enough while doing that but credit to them.”

One positive is the steady form of Aaron Schoupp in what is still a rather unfamiliar position.

“Aaron’s fantastic,” said Penna after Schoupp’s second game in the backrow for the club.

“He comes back and he works really hard for us every week. It’s a position the Titans would like to see him playing in so it’s good for us and good for the Titans.

“He had another strong performance tonight.”

Written by Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media

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