Preseason Trials

Braydon Trindall opened the scoring after a poor Jayden Okunbor offload but star recruit Matt Burton levelled up with an excellent run through the Sharks' right-side defence.

Nicho Hynes produced a nice pass for Briton Nikora's angled run to the line in the 22nd minute before Royce Hunt cashed in on a Tevita Pangai jnr penalty and sin bin to crash his way over in the 31st.

Will Kennedy made it 24-0 at the break cleaning up after Ronaldo Mulitalo tapped back a Trindall bomb. 

Runaway Bay’s Bycroft Oval will celebrate Melanesian and Indigenous culture with the game to also provide an opportunity for the rugby league community to raise funds and awareness for Tonga Recovery Appeal.
Hunters coach, Matt Church and Silktails coach, Wes Naiqama have both named strong squads for Saturday's game.

The match will kick-off at 4.30pm on Saturday and televised live on Digicel TV Event Channel.
 

The match will be the curtain raiser to the North Queensland Cowboys vs Brisbane Broncos NRL trial. 

Hunters’ assistant coach Stanley Tepend will also spend the early part of the week in the NQ Young Guns camp as part of his ongoing professional development. 

With both teams fielding 29 players, the score meant little but the band of rookies Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler called on in the second half were almost as impressive as the big name stars who played the opening 40 minutes.

A Tom Trbojevic-inspired try just before halftime put Manly ahead 12-4 at the interval and both clubs took off their big names.

Tigers coach Michael Maguire would have been pleased with the resolve shown by his side in the first half against a 2021 top four finishing team, but the Sea Eagles young guns dominated the second term.

The trial match is an important part of pre-season preparation for both teams’ thanks to support from Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade (DFAIT), and the Australian Government’s Pacific-Aus Sports program.

It is also an opportunity for two proud cultures to unite in support of fellow Pacific nation Tonga.

Proceeds from the Melanesian Bowl will go towards the disaster relief efforts in Tonga as the country recovers from the January natural disaster.

The match has been scheduled for February 26 at Bycroft oval in Gold Coast.

The Silktails squad is now counting down to the big pre-season clash against their Melanesian rivals, the PNG Hunters, with the two sides set to meet for the first time.

The trial was initially planned for 2021, however due to COVID-19 restrictions the match was cancelled.

The Silktails will start their second season in the NSW Ron Massey Cup competition and currently on pre-season tour to the Gold Coast and supported by the City of Gold Coast under Sports Attraction Program.