Young ‘Gulls must dig deep against Devils
FOGS and Colts teams weekend June 14-15
*(please note - Souths Logan v Easts Tigers FOGS Cup will kick off at 6pm - not 2.15pm)
IT HAS been a season of big wins and exciting footy, but Wynnum Manly Seagulls FOGS Colts Challenge coach Leon Cherry knows his team must continue its improvement as the table continues to get tighter.
A 50-10 win over Easts Tigers last weekend maintained their momentum; yet Cherry still saw areas his side need to work on.
“The performance wasn’t too bad, but I thought we could’ve been more clinical towards the end,” he said.
“We started to kick the ball too much and we missed out on a bit there, so there’s plenty of room for improvement.”
After a slow start to their campaign, Wynnum are now the league’s form side and Cherry gave credit to his young side’s progression.
“It’s a complete contrast from where we were in training three weeks after Christmas, they’ve come a long way,” he said.
“We’ve worked really hard both as a team and individually, I was hoping for us to maybe be competitive so with our results they’ve developed rapidly.”
Wynnum’s side are packed with younger talent and Cherry was proud of the hard yards they’ve put in to get to where they now are.
“Rhys Melville’s been phenomenal and really got our season rolling,” he said.
“Nick Bainbridge was somewhat untried at this level and I’m absolutely rapt at how he’s coming along.”
This Sunday’s match against a solid Norths Devils would normally be challenging enough, but with Wynnum missing five players due to Queensland Under 18 representative commitments, it shapes as a strong test for the team.
“It’s extremely tricky, Norths are getting a roll-on and their combinations are clicking,” he said.
“We’re a happy place and if we can get a win it would be fantastic, but it’s going to be very tough.”
In other FOGS Colts results last weekend, Burleigh Bears strengthened their spot atop the ladder with a dominant 48-10 win against Ipswich Jets.
Redcliffe Dolphins also returned to winning ways via an impressive 40-0 victory against Tweed Heads Seagulls while Sunshine Coast Falcons had to dig deep to get a 34-26 success over a game Toowoomba Clydesdales.
Round 16 will see Souths Logan Magpies host Toowoomba, Tweed Heads take on Ipswich while Burleigh face Sunshine Coast in what looms as a massive match.
Due to QRL Divisional Carnival fixtures, there was only one Round 13 FOGS Cup game with Ipswich upsetting first-placed Redcliffe 24-20.
This weekend, Ipswich travel to Carina Tigers, Souths take on Easts and Norths Devils face Wynnum, while Redcliffe have the bye.
