Bears and Seagulls in form

Both the Titans feeder teams put in tremendous performances on the weekend, with Tweed Heads thrashing Central Queensland Capras and Burleigh Bears taking competition leaders Townsville Blackhawks down to the wire with a pulsating draw at Pizzey Park.

And there was also good news with representative selection with Titans-contracted Cameron Cullen, Sami Sauiluma in the Queensland Residents side to play NSW Residents, Luke Page was chosen to play for PNG in the Test against Fiji and Titans’ 19-year-old John Olive chosen in the Junior Kangaroos.

The I Luv Coffee Burleigh Bears came back from 22-12 down in the second half to draw level at 22-all then 28-all and have all the running in the final 10 minutes against the Blackhawks but could not snare the winning field goal after Jamal Fogarty missed a conversion kick from out wide to nail a memorable victory.

The lead changed on five separate occasions as two of the competition’s heavyweights threw everything they had at each other.

“Not many teams will take points away from Townsville this year, so to get a point, even though we haven’t had a win, with the way they played and the effort they put in today was really good,” Bears coach Jim Lenihan said.

“I thought the second half we were the more dominant team. The tries they scored were streaky rather than constructed, whereas we grounded out field position and gave ourselves opportunities.

“We had a couple of shots at field goal which were created from our defence forcing them to drop the ball, which Townsville doesn’t generally do.”

The Bears were immediately behind the eight-ball as they conceded five penalties inside the opening five minutes and saw prop Nathaniel Peteru sent to the sin-bin but it was the 13^th minutes before Townsville crossed the line when Hezron Murgha scored in the corner.

Boasting arguably the slickest backline in the competition, the Blackhawks put on a set play in the 19^th minute which was finished off by Moses Pangai to give them a 10-0 lead.

With Paterika Vaivai and Josh Ailaomai coming off the bench and adding new energy, the Bears responded and Vaivai, who found himself at first receiver on the last tackle in the 28^th minute, showed good footwork and finesse to set up a try for Peteru.

Moments later the Bears were in front thanks to a moment of brilliance from Jamal Fogarty who grubbered ahead and regathered.

A Blackhawks charged down of a kick in the 36^th minute saw Jonathon Reuben scoring a runaway try to give Townsville the lead going in to half-time.

A scintillating try, where Pangai and Jahrome Hughes combined with eventual try-scorer Reuben, saw the Blackhawks go 60 metres to extend the lead to 22-12.

That sort of play has normally been the catalyst to big Blackhawk wins over the last two seasons, but the Burleigh side dug in and clawed their way back.

Jeff Lynch reached out to score in the 52^nd minute, while a lovely inside ball from Ailaomai in the 58^th minute allowed Waka Wanahi to score and put the Bears back in the lead.

Burleigh should have extended their lead in the 66^th minute, but they dropped the ball with the line open. Townsville seized the opportunity seconds later and burst through the middle as Murgha loomed in support to score his second of the day and give Townsville the lead.

With just seven minutes remaining, the competition’s top try-scorer Kurtis Rowe surged his way to the line. The kick from out wide was waved away and scores were tied again.

Burleigh’s forwards muscled up in the middle in the dying minutes and forced some crucial turnovers, but they couldn’t capitalise with the winning play.

Eddy Pettybourne returned from injury to play his second match for the Bears this season and was strong off the bench, pushing his claims to be included in the Titans side for the round 10 clash with Sydney Roosters on Monday week.

THE Seagulls outplayed the Capras at Piggabeen Sports Complex on Sunday, scoring seven tries in the 38-4 victory.

They were on top from the opening whistle and led 12-0 after just 10 minutes with short-range tries to Cory Blair and Will Bugden but led only 14-6 at the break before piling on points from early in the second half when halfback Michael Burgess scored from a kick.

Tries to interchange forward Doug Hewitt, left centre Olive and a double to right winger David Sheridan followed as the Seagulls ran away with the game.

Sheridan was again impressive in his second game for the Seagulls, beating several players for his second try, while last year’s Titans under-20s prop Ethan Price was impressive coming off the bench, showing what good youth is starting to develop at the Seagulls. Karl Lawton was a late withdrawal from the team after injuring a calf muscle at training on Thursday.

BURLEIGH BEARS 28 (Nathaniel Peteru, Jamal Fogarty, Jeff Lynch, Waka Wanahi, Kurtis Rowe tries Jamal Fogarty 4 goals) drew TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS 28 (Jonathon Reuben 2, Hezron Murgha 2, Moses Pangai tries Kyle Laybutt 3, Corey Jensen goals) at Pizzey Park.

BURLEIGH BEARS: Kurtis Rowe, Waka Wanahi, Connor Broadhurst, Jarrod Tua, Oliver Regan, Cameron Cullen, Jamal Fogarty, Luke Page, Pat Politoni, Nathaniel Peteru, Louis Fanene, Hayden Schwass, Jeff Lynch. Interchange: Thomas Rowles, Josh Ailaomai, Eddy Pettybourne, Paterika Vaivai.

TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 38 (David Sheridan 2, Cory Blair, William Bugden, Michael Burgess, Doug Hewitt, John Olive tries; Samuel Meskell 5 goals) def CQ CAPRAS 4 (Adam Henry try) at Piggabeen Sports.

TWEED SEAGULLS: Shannon Walker, David Sheridan, Shaun Carney, John OIive, Leva Li, Sam Irwin, Mitchell Burgess, Will Bugden, Sam Meskell, Mitch Sharp, Matt Robinson, Cory Blair, Sam Saville. Interchange: Doug Hewitt, Matthew Hundy, Jarrod Morfett, Ethan Price.

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 9

No games next weekend – Representative Round

FOGS COLTS - ROUND 9

REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS 20 (Joshua Huni, Samuel Leach, Sonny Munroe, Harry Redfearn tries; William Partridge, Bailey Rogers goals) def TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS 18 (Jayden Baker, Riley Glover, Josh Ralph tries; Nicholas Burns 3 goals) at Piggabeen Sports.

BURLEIGH BEARS 36 (Keanu Rimene 2, Jordan Hornburg, Joseph Tangeria, Braydon McMahon, Liam Wyper, Netani Vi tries; Liam Wyper 3, Netane Vi goals) def TOOWOOMBA CLYDESDALES 8 (Hayden Packer, Ryan Horton tries) at Pizzey Park.

POINTS TABLE AFTER ROUND 9