Blackhawks down Tweeds' Titans

It was a tough day at the office for the Titans players at Tweed Heads on the weekend, with the Seagulls suffering a 52-12 loss at the hands of the ladder leaders Townsville Blackhawks at Jack Manski Oval.

The Seagulls paid the price for a slow start, with a rampant Blackhawks outfit running in 40 points in the first half. The Seagulls couldn’t get their hands on the ball, with Townsville putting on a clinical attacking display in front of their home fans.

Some stern words from Tweed coach Aaron Zimmerle at half-time sparked an improved performance from the Seagulls defence in the second half, holding the Blackhawks to a 12-5 score line in the second half.

Titans winger Leva Li said the road trip to Townsville is a tough ask against a side with a lot of NRL experience, but made no excuses for the Seagulls’ first half performance.

“They’re a good team with a lot of NRL experience and they just came out on fire in the first half, but we were still really disappointed with our effort to start the game,” Li said.

“It’s a tough trip to go up there and play an in-form side but it was still disappointing for the score line to end up like that.”

While the first 40 minutes was disappointing, Li said some much-needed strong words from coach Aaron Zimmerle helped them lift their performance in the second half.

“Zimmer made sure we didn’t let the score line get out of hand in the second half and really put it on us to play with a lot more personal pride and we had a much better second half, especially in defence,” he said.

Li said teammates Jai Ingram and Matt Robinson did their jobs while playmaker Jamal Fogarty was good despite receiving some extra attention from the Blackhawks’ defence.

“Jai and Robbo both played well, and Jamal was really good even though they were rushing up on him and trying to restrict his influence because he can be so dangerous when he runs with the ball,” Li said.

Despite the improved effort in the second half, Townsville ran out decisive winners to stake their claim as the premiership favourites.

Tries to Titans Jamie Dowling and Christian Hazard weren’t enough to help Burleigh win the Adam Watene Memorial Trophy against Wynnum Manly on Sunday, going down 46-24 at Pizzey Park.

The Seagulls set up the win in the first hour, racing to a 40-4 lead after 60 minutes with the Bears piling on four tries late in the game. The slow start cost Burleigh, with the game out of grasp by the time the home side found some momentum.

Bears coach Jim Lenihan said his side’s poor first half made it hard to mount any serious comeback.

“We just gave ourselves too much of a mountain to climb at the start of the game. We lost it in the first half,” he said.

“They had too much possession and we couldn’t control any of their momentum. That got them out to a big head start and we were always behind the eight-ball because of that.”

Young Titans playmaker Christian Hazard was impressive at five-eighth in his second game back from injury, striking up a good combination with hooker Nafe Seluini who played his first game since round five.

Kevin Gordon and Dowling proved a handful for the Seagulls’ defence out wide, but they were starved of opportunities against a Wynnum Manly side that dominated possession. Big Titans prop Nathaniel Peteru worked tirelessly in the front row, while Chad Redman was influential at hooker.

Both Titans feeder teams have away games this week as the Bears have a trip to Stanthorpe on Sunday to play the Sunshine Coast Falcons, while Tweed Heads will take on the CQ Capras in Bundaberg on Saturday night.

WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 46 (Mitchell Frei 3, Matthew Grieve 2, Greg Eden 2, Patrick Templeton tries; Mathew Seamark 7 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 24 (Dimitri Pelo 2, Jamie Dowling, Christian Hazard, Tyron Haynes tries; Kevin Gordon 2 goals) at Pizzey Park.

Burleigh Bears: 1. Talor Walters 2. Kevin Gordon 3. Jamie Dowling 4. Connor Broadhurst 5. Dimitri Pelo 6. Christian Hazard 7. Ryley Jacks 8. Nathaniel Peteru 9. Chad Redman 10. Tyler Sparkes 11. Tyron Haynes 12. Ayden Lee 13. Darren Griffiths (c) 14. Nafe Seluini 15. Louie Fanene 16. Mitch Sharp 17. Josh Ailaomai

TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 52 (Kyle Feldt 3, Jahrome Hughes, Zac Santo, Tom Humble, Samsen O’Neill, Daniel Beasley, Kelepi Tanginoa tries; Kyle Feldt 6, Robert Lui 2 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 12 (Nathanael Barnes, James Wood tries; Jamal Fogarty 2 goals) at Jack Manski Oval.

Tweed Heads Seagulls: 1. Ali Grant 2. Nathanael Barnes 3. James Wood (c) 4. Shaun Carney 5. Leva Li 6. Jamal Fogarty 7. Sam Foster 8. Will Bugden 9. Sam Meskell 10. Ethan Price 11. Matt Robinson 12. Blake Anderson 13. Sam Saville 14. Ricardo Parata 15. Tim Cassidy 16. Dane Clarke 17. Jai Ingram.

INTRUST SUPER CUP

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 22