Wynnum Manly five-eighth Patrick Templeman scored a double as the Seagulls defeated the Redcliffe Dolphins 22-12 at Dolphin Oval yesterday.
The tall playmaker has been a handy recruit from the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, with his long kicking game and nose for the football a perfect complement to veteran halfback Matthew Seamark.
Their combination has been a big factor as the Seagulls chase their third premiership in five years.
Yesterday’s victory saw the Seagulls place one hand on retaining the Herald Cup, a two-leg series with the return match at BMD Kougari Oval in Round 21.
If the XXXX Rivalry Round match was any indication, it will be another fierce battle as both sides hammered away through their big forward packs.
Unfortunately the tough encounter caused injury concerns for both sides as the Seagulls’ David Stagg was taken to hospital with a neck concern and Redcliffe back rower Josh Benjamin left the game with a leg injury.
Centre Mitchell Buckett created the first scoring opportunity, when he bumped away a few defenders and forced his way through the line to lay it on a platter for Templeman’s first.
Seamark was the next to score when a silky movement through the hands saw centre Matt Grieve offload inches from the ground to fullback Daniel Ogden who jinked his way through traffic then flick a ball around the corner for his halfback to finish.
Seamark would convert his own try and land a penalty just on halftime to put the visitors deservedly in front 14-0 at the break.
Redcliffe knew that they would need to score immediately after halftime or it would be too big a task to come back.
Front rower Charlie Faingaa decided to put the team on his back, taking it to one of the best middle third’s in the game with some tenacious carries.
Faingaa converted that grit into points when he crashed over near the posts, to bring the score to 14-6.
In one of the most bizarre pieces of play this season, Templeman would cross for his second to extend Wynnum Manly’s lead to 18-6 midway through the second half.
Former Hull Kingston Rovers’ fullback Greg Eden looked certain to have crossed for a try before Redcliffe’s Curtis Johnston came up with a big hit to force the ball dead as he was putting it down.
Johnston then grabbed the ball and sprinted to the 20m mark for the quick tap, immediately shifting right to winger Tristan Lumley, who dropped the ball as he was being tackled.
Wynnum Manly scooped up the loose ball, eventually finding Templeman who scooted away into the corner for the try in a rollercoaster 30 seconds for both sides.
Redcliffe were looking around at themselves wondering what happened as Seamark was lining up the conversion.
However, the Dolphins had too much firepower to be put away that easily.
Bench back rower Nick Ritter ran a hard line back against the ruck and managed to pop up an offload for his captain Luke Capewell to score and narrow the gap to 18-12.
But it was Wynnum Manly's dynamic fullback who would provide the dagger to finish off the Dolphins.
Hooker Alehana Mara shaped long then switched to hit Ogden sweeping on the short side and the fullback was too quick for the Dolphins’ cover defence, scoring the deciding try in the corner.
WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS 22 (Patrick Templeton 2, Daniel Ogden, Matthew Seamark tries; Matthew Seamark 3 goals) def REDCLIFFE 12 (Luke Capewell, Charlie Faingaa tries; Luke Capewell 2 goals) at Dolphin Oval.
Final teams
Redcliffe Dolphins: 1. Josh Beehag 2. Tristan Lumley 3. Joe Bradley 4. Aaron Whitchurch 5. Curtis Johnston 6. John Brady 7. Luke Capewell (c) 8. Charlie Faingaa 9. Darcy Etrich 10. Jon Green 11. Josh Benjamin 12. Anthony Cherrington 13. Trent Richardson 14. Hayden Hansen 15. Tom Geraghty 16. Nick Ritter 17. Taylor Brown
Wynnum Manly Seagulls: 1. Daniel Ogden 2. Peter Gubb 3. Matthew Grieve 4. Mitchell Buckett 5. Greg Eden 6. Patrick Templeman 7. Matthew Seamark 8. Ben Shea 9. Alehana Mara 10. Tim Natusch (c) 11. Aaron Rockley 12. David Stagg 13. Mitchell Frei 14. Mitchell Moore 15. Jon Grieve 16. Tanu Wulf 19. Olsi Krasniqi
