Titans squad members won man of the match honours as both feeder teams were victorious over the weekend – in contrasting circumstances.
Burleigh Bears disposed of Sunshine Coast 28-12 in hot humid conditions at Pizzey Park on Saturday night while Piggabeen Sports Complex was almost flooded on Sunday during an incredible downpour but it didn’t stem the flow of points in the second half as the Seagulls ended Northern Pride’s two-match streak with a 34-10 win.
Halfback Kane Elgey scored two tries for the Seagulls and was in fine form while right centre Davin Crampton picked up a hat-trick and was also impressive.
On Saturday night, left second-rower Lachlan Burr was man of the match for the Bears, with Christian Hazard and Mark Ioane also among the best performers.
Tweed and Pride played some exciting football despite the extraordinary conditions which saw them running through sheets of water in the second half.
Good footwork from Crampton saw the home side level the scores at 6-all after the Pride scored first. The Seagulls led 12-6 at half-time after the first of Elgey’s two tries.
With a makeshift partner in Ricardo Parata it took a little while for the Seagulls halves to gel but once they did they dominated, both scoring tries and setting up others.
After the break, Crampton was quick to get his second before Norths pegged back the deficit with Kainga Turner grounding the ball in a large puddle.
However, the Seagulls’ momentum went unabated from then. They ran in more tries, including a second to Elgey which came from another good break downfield from Titans winger Leva Li and a third to Crampton.
The Gulls forwards were powerful, with Agnatius Paasi and Mark Offerdahl impressing off the bench.
The Bears had their first win of the season and played with improved composure against the Falcons who are an improved side form last season with a feeder-association with Melbourne Storm.
Burr played almost all the game before suffering a back injury in the final minutes and did a mountain of work.
“He has really good leg speed and he’s a strong edge man that can get over blokes on the edge. He really got at our targets well tonight to,” Burleigh coach Jim Lenihan said of Burr.
“Our ball control was really good tonight and we stuck it out and got there through hard work.
“It was really tight for a lot of that game and I think we took a lot of petrol out of Sunshine Coast by forcing a lot of repeat sets in that first half. I think that showed when we were able to run over them a little bit in that final 20 minutes.
“Ryley Jacks’ kicking game was really good this week too. He turned them around all day and was able to get a lot of repeat sets from attacking kicks which was pleasing.”
Christian Hazard set up the first try in the seventh minute when he put centre Connor Broadhurst over. Hazard scored the Bears’ next try for the home side to lead 10-6 at the break.
Burleigh managed to find another gear in the second half and it was Josh Ailaomai who came off the bench to make the impact. His barnstorming try from close range in the 50th minute gave the Bears a handy lead while Ioane scored in the same fashion 10 minutes later to extend it.
TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 34 (Davin Crampton 3, Kane Elgey 2, Mark Offerdahl tries; Kane Elgey 5 goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 10 (Kainga Turner, Darren Nicholls tries; Darren Nicholls goal) at Piggabeen Sports Complex
Tweed Heads Seagulls
1. Shaun Carney 2. Blake Anderson 3. James Wood (c) 4. Davin Crampton 5. Leva Li 6. Ricardo Parata 7. Kane Elgey 8. Damian Sironen 9. Matt Srama 10. Hemi Mullen 11. Mark Offerdahl 12. Dane Clarke 13. Sam Saville 14. Jai Ingram 15. Matt Robinson 16. Agnatius Paasi 17. Kalifa Faifai Loa
Norths Devils
1. Luke Pollock 2. Kainga Turner 3. Steve Elliott 4. Dylan Galloway 5. Michael Lucas 6. Sam Foster 7. Darren Nicholls (c) 8. Richard Tuala 9. Krys Freeman 10. Francis Molo 17. Mark Vaiao 12. Rogan Dean 13. Chris Faust 14. Byron Creighton 15. Matt Mizzi 16. Josh Afoa 19. Rhett Webster
BURLEIGH BEARS 28 (Tyler Chadburn, Connor Broadhurst, Christian Hazard, Mark Ioane, Josh Ailaomai tries; Zac Mackay 4 goals) def SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 12 (Callum Klein, Jake Samoa tries; Cory McGrady 2 goals) at Pizzey Park.
Burleigh Bears: 1. Tyler Chadburn 2. Zac Macaky 3. Jamie Dowling 4. Connor Broadhurst 5. Jared Teo 6. Christian Hazard 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Mark Ioane 9. Nafe Seluini 10. Pele Peletelese 11. Lachlan Burr 12. Jason Chan 13. Darren Griffiths (c) 14. Tom Rowles 15. Louis Fanene 16. Josh Ailaomai 19. Mitch Sharp
Sunshine Coast Falcons: 1. Joe Uluibau 2. Travis Robinson 3. Callum Klein 4. Hymel Hunt 5. Suli Vunivalu 6. Ben Hampton 7. Cory McGrady 19. Johnny Vuetibau 9. Slade Griffin 10. Jon Platt 11. Kenny Bromwich 12. Jake Samoa 13. Tom Murphy (c) 14. Billy Brittain 18. Kemu Seru 20. Jordan Ryan 17. Sam Sotogi
