Neil Cadigan
The Ben Campbell Building Group Tweed Heads Seagulls may have paid a heavy toll for their tough away win against Central Queensland Capras with hard-working skipper Cheyne Whitelaw suffering a serious knee injury in Rockhampton.
The Seagulls snuck home 13-12 on the back of a 78th minute field goal by five-eighth Lindon McGrady to put them into seventh spot with a showdown for sixth awaiting them against Norths Devils at Piggabeen Sports Complex this Sunday.
Whitelaw lasted just 11 minutes before being escorted from the field after his knee collapsed in rather bizarre circumstances. The lightweight prop, who has been an inspiration to his teammates this season, broke the line returning a kick-off after the first try of the match to Brendan Elliot.
He tore away and reached Capras fullback Zeik Foster but, after stepping off his left foot, his body crumbled. He will have scans in coming days to determine the extent of the left knee injury, but fears are that he has torn his ACL.
This comes just two weeks after centre Brayden McGrady, who was the Intrust Super Cup’s top try-scorer with 12 tries in eight appearances, tore his ACL to force him out for the season just days after signing with the Penrith Panthers.
“Cheyne will be tough to replace but we’ve shown a lot of character, even when we haven’t played well, and this will be another challenge,” said coach Ben Woolf.
“We made far too many errors and made it difficult for ourselves but we showed a lot of resolve in defence again and they got us the win.
“Both their tries came from kicks and we scrambled really well. But out attack just wasn’t where it should be and we have to improve next week against the Devils. We just didn’t function well with the ball and failed to nail the end of our sets well enough.”
The Seagulls were first to score through a shift to the right that saw Elliott cross from a cut-out ball by Kane Elgey in the 10th minute. It was converted by McGrady.
The Capras hit back with a converted try to skipper Jerry Key in the 23rd minute, after Ryland Jacobs fumbled a high kick, to level the scores before Seagulls halfback Elgey put the visitors ahead three minutes into the second half when he dummied and broke the line before stepping past the fullback. McLindon’s kick made it 12-6.
The Capras again levelled the scores through five-eighth Maipele Morseau, who latched onto a grubber by halfback Blake Goodman, converted by former Titan and Burleigh Bear Connor Broadhurst in 54th minute.
Play went from end to end in a frantic final 15 minutes.
Elgey failed with a field goal attempt before McLindon nailed his with two minutes remaining. But from the set after the kick-off, Elgey kicked into touch on the full to give the Capras one last shot at snatching a draw.
Former Queensland Origin rep Dave Taylor had a long-range attempt from over 40 metres but it sailed wide.
Maia Sands typified the gritty effort by the Seagulls by playing 80 minutes, 60 of them in the middle due to Whitelaw’s absence. Hiale Roycroft also stepped up, playing 51 minutes off the bench and troubled the Capras with his determined runs, while Ryland Jacobs again showed his determination with several strong carries from the Seagulls’ end.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 13 (Brendan Elliot, Kane Elgey tries; Linden McGrady 2 goals; Lindon McGrady field goal) def CQ CAPRAS 12 (Jerry Key, Maipele Morseau tries; Connor Broadhurst 2 goals) at Browne Park.
Team lists and scoring/interchange details
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