Peteru scores double in comeback

Aquis Titans players Nathaniel Peteru and Nathan Davis have developed an interesting tradition at the Burleigh Bears in the past fortnight.

The weekend before last Davis returned from a four-week spell from an ankle injury, suffered in the Titans’ round two clash with Melbourne Storm, with two tries eight minutes apart in the Bears’ 38-32 win against Souths Logan.

On Saturday, Peteru returned from a knee injury suffered playing for the Titans in the Auckland Nines and also picked up two tries, 12 minutes apart, in a match that also had a 38-32 scoreline.

The difference was that this time the I Luv Coffee Bears were beaten by the Capras in an upset, and it was 22-8 before Kiwi prop Peteru was introduced into the match.

Yet the big front-rower, who scored a try on debut for the Titans in 2015, was happy with his return after 10 weeks in the stands.

“I got about 30 minutes off the bench and was happy with how the knee felt,” he said. “All the hard work I’d put in with our strength and conditioning staff paid off.

“It was disappointing we lost after the team had been going so well but I felt good, although I hurt a stomach muscle a bit, and want to now build up my match fitness.”

Peteru’s try-double was the third by a Titans man in the past month with Lachlan Burr grabbing one in round four.

Capras led 22-4 at half-time before the Bears struck back to 22-all before the Capras got the upper hand again.

 “We just leaked too many points,” said Bears coach Jim Lenihan.  “It’s probably two weeks in a row now where we’ve not showed a lot of commitment in our defence and we paid the price today.

“I don’t think we showed enough commitment and I think we were arrogant and complacent at the end of the day. We thought we could go out there, go through the motions and get the win and clearly we didn’t.

“We showed signs in the second half that we might have gotten on the right page eventually, but we shouldn’t have to wait until half-time to get our mental approach right and want to play.

“We’ve got to be a side that can grind out games instead of just relying on being flashy. At the moment we can score points and score bizarre tries at times, but what we really struggle with is the ability to grind games out through tough, tenacious will.”

Lachlan Burr, who with Cameron Cullen raced from Cbus Super Stadium after being 18^th and 19^th men for the Titans in the warm-up for the clash with the Dragons, was instrumental, at 10-0 down, in getting Burleigh on the board, as his offload provided space for Kurtis Rowe to score in the corner.

The Bears were on the ropes and finally responded with some fire in the 36^th minute when Peteru muscled his way over from close range to bring Burleigh within two converted tries at the break.

Burleigh came out of the sheds all guns blazing in the second half and scored twice in 10 minutes to draw scores level.

Prop Josh Ailaomai led the way with several good charges up the middle which set up opportunities for Pat Politoni and Peteru to score tries, this time Peteru charging through from an inside pass.

The Bears’ good work was quickly undone in the 53^rd minute as Junior Kirisome scored a soft try in the corner for Capras.

The Bears scored two more tries before Jamie Dowling and Tyler Chadburn responded for the Bears but a try to Brandon Manase in the 69^th minute put it to bed.

Tweed Seagulls suffered their fifth straight loss after starting their 2016 campaign with a 26-24 win against Easts, going down to Souths Logan 28-10.

The Seagulls, who fielded Titans players John Olive, Leva Li, Karl Lawton and Matt Robinson, led 10-4 early in the second half but Brisbane Broncos players Herman Ese’ese and Marian Seve were impressive as the Magpies shot away in the last half an hour.

However, it was a marked improvement for the Seagulls after error-filled performances the previous fortnight, with Robinson is great form.

“We played some of our best footy [of the season],” said coach Aaron Zimmerle. “We looked like a football team again. We just have to work out how we respond to a penalty or error.”

CQ CAPRAS 38 (Adam Henry, Samson Graham, Maipele Morseau, Aleki Falepaini, Kirisome, Peter Gallen, Brandon Manase tries; Matthew Minto 5 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 32 (Nathaniel Peteru 2, Kurtis Rowe 2, Pat Politoni, Tyler Chadburn tries; Jamal Fogarty 4 goals) at Pizzey Park.

SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES 28 (Marion Seve 2, George Fai, Herman Ese’ese, Tevita Pangai tries; Jamayne Isaako 4 goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 10 (Samuel Irwin, Dane Clarke tries; Blake Anderson goal) at Davies Park.

TEAMS:

BURLEIGH BEARS: Tyler Chadburn, Kurtis Rowe, Sami Sauiluma, Nathan Davis, Oliver Regan, Cameron Cullen, Jamal Fogarty, Luke Page, Pat Politoni, Paterika Vaivai, Jamie Dowling, Hayden Schwass, Lachlan Burr. Interchange: Thomas Rowles, Josh Ailaomai, Nathaniel Peteru, Jeff Lynch.

TWEED SEAGULLS: Shannon Walker, Blake Anderson, Shaun Carney, John OIive, Nathaniel Barnes, Sam Irwin, Karl Lawton, Will Bugden, Sam Meskell, Mitch Sharp, Cory Blair, Matt Robinson, Sam Saville. Interchange: Leva Li, James Wood, Dane Clarke, Jarrod Morphett.

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 7

NEXT WEEK’S GAMES

Saturday

Redcliffe Dolphins v Easts Tigers at Burpengary Sporting Complex 2:00pm

Sunshine Coast Falcons v Ipswich Jets at Hervey Bay 6:30pm

Souths Logan Magpies v CQ Capras at Webb Park Yeppoon 7:00pm

Sunday

Tweed Heads v Mackay Cutters at Piggabeen Sports 1:40pm (Channel 9)

Townsville Blackhawks v Northern Pride at Jack Manski Oval 4:00pm

Monday

Burleigh Bears v PNG Hunters at Pizzey Park 3:30pm

Byes: Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Norths Devils