The Wynnum Manly Seagulls thrashed the Burleigh Bears 46-6 at BMB Kougari Oval today.
It was a dominant performance from the Seagulls from start to finish and the Bears just couldn’t get into gear.
Wynnum Manly coach Jon Buchanan said the performance of his forwards set up the big win.
“I thought our forwards were outstanding,” he said.
“Our first 25 minutes Timmy Natusch, Ben Shea and Staggy (David Stagg) were outstanding for us. Throw in (Mitch) Frei and (John) Te Reo as well.
“I think they laid the platform for us and even their second stint was really good. It was won in the middle today, that’s for sure.”
Scoring got underway quickly for the home side with Mitchell Buckett winning the race to a smart grubber kick from five-eighth Ben Cronin.
The boot of Cronin was an effective weapon for the Seagulls as it produced several tries on the day.
A towering bomb from Cronin was spilled by Burleigh in the 13th minute and Mitchell Frei crashed over the line on the very next play.
In the 27th minute Cronin was at it again as he kicked twice in the lead up to his own try.
Cronin had another assist when he regathered a deflected kick in the 30th minute and found a barnstorming Te Reo in support to give Wynnum a 22-0 lead at the break.
A week prior the Bears were staring down the barrel of defeat at halftime and responded with a mighty comeback, unfortunately for them this week they couldn’t reproduce that effort and only more pain came in the second 40.
Jason Moon brought down a Cronin bomb one minute into the second half to extend the Wynnum lead further and they didn’t slow down from there.
A Bears error close to their own line gifted Moon his second try of the day in the 55th minute and Daniel Ogden shrugged off a couple en route to a solo try in his 100th Intrust Super Cup appearance 15 minutes later.
A try from close range to Stephen Coombe in the dying moment completed the rout.
The only moment to savour for Bears fans came in the 64th minute when Khan Ahwang grabbed a length of the field intercept try.
“We were a lot better than we were the last couple of weeks,” Buchanan said.
“We did some things today that we’ve been lacking in the last few weeks, just the little one per cent plays.
“Our kick chase was good, we pressured their kickers, we worked hard for each other defensively and I think that was probably the difference.”
Buchanan was also pleased with his side’s effort in defence, only allowing the Bears to cross for an intercept try.
“It was probably the effort we’ve been looking for defensively,” he said.
“We’ve been a bit loose, even the games we’ve won we’ve conceded 20-odd points so it is really pleasing to keep a quality side like Burleigh to that.”
Bears coach Carl Briggs was bitterly disappointed after the match and lamented his side’s inconsistent start to the season.
“You come to a place like Wynnum and drop the ball like we did on first and second tackle as often as we did, you’re going to get beaten. They’re a good football side,” he said.
“We’re inconsistent. There is a massive, massive difference between our best and our worst and that’s proven again today. We had 46 points put on us.”
The only positive Briggs could offer after the game was the performance of young gun Kyle McConnell, who was a physical presence on the game.
Earlier in the day the Burleigh Bears Colts side pulled off the great escape to defeat Wynnum Manly 34-28.
The Bears trailed 28-8 with less than 20 minutes remaining, but somehow managed to come away with the two points with the match-winning try being scored after the buzzer.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 46 (Jason Moon 2, Daniel Ogden, Mitchell Buckett, Ben Cronin, John Te Reo, Mitchell Frei, Stephen Coombe tries; Matt Seamark 7 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 6 (Khan Ahwang try; Khan Ahwang goal) at BMD Kougari Oval.