Runaway Bay Seagulls (5th) v Tweed Heads Seagulls (3rd); Saturday, April 25, 4pm at Bycroft Oval
Runaway Bay will host the Coast-2-Coast Earthmoving Cup’s only ANZAC Day fixture. Bay have had a week off to recover from their round one loss to the Bilambil Jets. Bay will also be without Punga Schaff and Luke Lavelle, both of whom picked up suspensions in round 1.
The Bay showed glimpses in their round one loss, but turned over too much football which invited the opposition to post points. This week, if they can hold on to the ball they have the potential to do some damage. Tweed meanwhile looked very impressive in their opening game of the season. After sitting out round one with the bye, the Tweed burst on the scene last week with a scintillating 58-16 win over Currumbin.
The Seagulls have been on the cusp of breaking through and being a threat in the Coast-2-Coast Earthmoving Cup for a number of years and with just one team to worry about in this competition this could be the year they do it. Keep an eye on Tweed centre pairing Luke Dumas and Tim Cassidy who both lit up the scoreboard with a hat-trick and a double respectively last weekend.
Bilambil Jets (4th) v Currumbin Eagles (7th); Sunday, April 26, 2pm at Bilambil Sports Ground
After notching a big win in round 1, the Jets ran in to a very tough Burleigh side in round 2. The Jets were blown off the park early, but showed tremendous heart and resilience to fight their way back in to the contest. After trailing 22-0 after 20 minutes, the Jets scratched and clawed their way back into it, eventually coming to within four points of the star-studded Bears team.
Burleigh kicked away with two late tries, but overall it was a positive outing for the Jets who showed once again that no matter what situation they find themselves in, the Jets are never beaten until the very end. As courageous as the performance was, they will certainly be looking to start the game better this week. They can’t afford to give any team the type of head start they did last week. As for Currumbin, they performed well against Tugun in round 1 before running in to a red-hot Tweed Seagulls in round two.
The Seagulls went on a try-scoring blitz on their way to a 58-16 thumping. Currumbin will need to bounce back and find the form they showed in round 1 where they pushed the Tugun Seahawks all the way in a narrow loss.
Tugun Seahawks (2nd) v Burleigh Bears (1st); Sunday, April 26, 2pm at Boyd Street
For the eighth time, Tugun and Burleigh will battle for the Crackers/Tangata-Toa Cup. The Cup, which is contested annually, honours club legends Mark “Crackers” Goodwin (Tugun) and Joe Tangata-Toa (Burleigh). Tugun has had the wood on Burleigh in these clashes, winning six of the seven clashes for the Cup including the last three. Tugun always lift when this Cup is on the line and they will be even more desperate for victory given they will be at home.
The Seahawks have started the year well with two tough wins. They backed up their round 1 victory over the Currumbin Eagles with a 29-14 win over defending premiers Southport last weekend. Sunday will serve as their biggest test to date and give a good indication of where the Seahawks are three weeks into the competition. Burleigh meanwhile has also started the season with two big wins over Southport and Bilambil in rounds 1 and 2. The Bears blew Southport off the park in the first round and raced to a 22-0 lead in their clash against Bilambil.
However, the Bears almost threw their lead away last weekend as they allowed Bilambil to get within four points at one stage. Poor ball control and ill-discipline let the Bears down and almost cost them the game. When they control the football, the Bears have looked near unbeatable, but it is an area of their game they no doubt be looking to address this week.
Southport Tigers – bye
