tweed heads seagulls

In perfect conditions at Tugun RLFC, it was the Hunters who would strike first, capitalising on some early field position to threaten Tweed on both edges before setting up a left-side backline movement.

Both sides come into this game following a weekend off and will be looking to start the second half of the season on a high. 

The PNG boys beat the Tweed Heads Seagulls 22-18 in New South Wales.

The Seagulls came on strong in the opening minutes of the Intrust Super Cup round 22 match with a try through Alex Grant.

An unsuccessful conversion left the scores at 0-4 until 13 minutes into the game and Kody Parsons put another one past the Hunters’ try line.

Rex Johnson converted the try for a 10-point lead.

5 minutes later, a flying Adex Wera responded and a successful conversion by captain Ase Boas narrowed the score margin.

After two consecutive losses playing away, the 32-18 victory has put the Hunters back on track, says coach Michael Marum.

“It was good to get a win back at home after two losses away so it was good for our confidence.”

However, Marum conceded it was a scrappy win from his team.

“There were a lot of mistakes but it’s something we can work on.

“We’re slowly working on our combinations. We’ll review the game at our video session and go through everything there.”

Captain and five-eighth Ase Boas agreed with the coach.

This afternoon at the Oil Search National Football Stadium, the Seagulls had the possession early on, forcing the Hunters to defend under pressure.

But the Hunters survived and a penalty carried them out of their own half and into Seagulls territory.

Good vision by captain and five-eighth Ase Boas led to the first try, with Boas spreading it out wide for a flying Edene Gabbie to score first points in the 12th minute.

The Hunters’ good start was nearly all undone when Brendon Gotuno dropped the ball from the restart.

The Seagulls raced away to an 18-0 lead after 29 minutes with tries to Samuel Meskell, Nicholas Harrold and Jayden Baker.

But the Hunters hit back with two tries in five minutes towards the end of the first half. The first was to captain and five-eighth Ase Boas, followed by fullback Stargroth Amean.

This brought the half-time score to 18-12.

Points were hard to come by in the second half with both sides only managing one try each.

The Seagulls found the try line in the 44^th minute through Tristan Lumley.

Marum said Wera will start in the centres with Willie Minoga moved to second rower. Moses Meninga will start at lock.

He added David Loko and Stanton Albert have been omitted from the side for the final round of the season before the finals.

Brandy Peter, Sailas Gahuna and young Muka Peter Kulu have been added to the extended 20-man squad.

“Coming off a huge loss last week, it hurt our pride. We’ve always made this trip to PNG something that’s been very special to our group.

“To know how hard the Hunters work in their football, how many sessions they do in a week, to know they’re coached professionally and the facilities and with a stadium like this now.

“We actually call the NFS our Mt. Everest, we wanted to climb Mt. Everest and be one of those teams that could walk away from here with the pride of saying we were able to get a win.

“It was a tough game. They were hungrier for the points. They deserved the victory.

“Our boys didn’t play well. We really need to sit down properly and look at our game heading forward. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Marum.

Marum added the absence of captain and five-eighth Ase Boas was not a contributing factor to the loss to the last-placed Seagulls.

“From the start, we didn’t stick to our game plan. It’s not an excuse missing the skipper. We had 13 boys who are all capable of playing.

The visitors made their intentions known as early as the 3rd minute when halfback Michael Burgess spun out of a tackle, kicked for himself and scored near the posts.

With no Ase Boas, the Hunters struggled.

Poor ball control was again an issue for the Hunters who couldn't complete their sets.

The Seagulls hurt the Hunters at two minutes out from half-time after Damian Sironen crossed.

The kick from Lindon McGrady was good putting the lead out to 12-0.