Capras and Tigers keen to bounce back in Round 5

The Tigers will host the Capras on Saturday night at Totally Workwear Stadium, the second match in a BHP Premiership double-header that will see Valkyries play a red-hot North Queensland Gold Stars earlier in the afternoon.

Both the Tigers and Capras would have been disappointed with the results last weekend and will want to rectify that this week with a better overall team performance.

The Tigers came undone against the Gold Stars in Townsville and lost 30-4. Trailing 20-0 at half-time, the young team did well after the break, but they were unable to stop the Gold Stars from making ground.

By full-time, the side were behind 296 metres and eight-line breaks to one.

The Tigers also made 13 tackle breaks compared to the 39 for the Gold Stars, in a telling statistic.

This weekend, Angela Tambam-Watego returns for the Tigers and is set to join Kimberley Dore, who was exceptional for the Tigers with 146 metres. Lock Katherine Moore also performed strongly and made 24 tackles.

Coach Adrian Vowles said he had clear intentions for his team leading into this round at home.

“Our starts have to be better... you can’t be down 20-0 and win to many games,” Vowles said.

“I’d like us to start better, we were a lot better the second half and completed at 88 per cent, so if we can start better this week that will go a long way to winning.

“Our defence, and our contact has to be stronger too.

"Jada Lofipo has been strong for us and keeps improving and impressing every week.”

Lofipo has busted nine tackles in four games and scored one try this season with a massive 12 offloads causing trouble for teams.

Their opposition this week the Capras didn’t fare much better at their home game against Valleys who are currently undefeated in the competition.

However, it took until the 22nd minute for Valleys to make their move, but when they did, the Capras couldn’t stop them.

Valleys can’t be handed too much ball because teams will only stop them for so long. The Diehards ended with nine-line breaks and 28 tackle breaks which was too much for the Capras.

The Capras also missed 29 tackles, which is something the team will be keen to turn around.

In preparation for their Round 5 match, coach Amanda Ohl wanted her young Capras to focus on some key areas.

“We have really worked on our defence, the week before we missed 60 tackles and this week we got that down,” Ohl said.

“Our attack faltered a bit last week and we just couldn’t convert our chances.

“Valleys are a class outfit with great players, so I was really happy with the improvement in defence and now we need to find some points.

“Kailah Rogers will go back to lock and she has been great for us every week, she does so much work.”

So far this season, Rogers has made 93 tackles and five tackle breaks.

The Capras have made two changes to their line-up this week, with Krystal Sulter coming back into the side.

Since her return to the field this season, Mariah Storch has been huge for the Capras and they will be looking to her to replicate her huge effort against the Tigers last weekend where she came up with 159 metres and 24 tackles. The Capras lock averages 128 metres this season.

Valleys have made some changes, which is scary when you win 22-0 and you bring in three new faces. Caitlyn Taleni, Sarah Riorden, Savannah Pratten all come back for the Diehards to face the Tweed.

On the back of big metres made by winger Shenae Ciesiolka, who monstered the Capras for 181 metres, the Valleys machine clicked into gear.

Grace Griffin made two-line breaks and the Diehards were away with four tries. Ali Brigginshaw had two-line breaks assists; showing plenty of poise and patience for her support runners to cash in.

For the Seagulls, the Panthers were just too good winning 26-6. Tweed had some admirable performances like super star Kiwi Georgia Hale with 47 tackles.

Hale has made 146 tackles this season at a stunning 96 per cent efficiency. The Seagulls have made one change to the side, with Olivia Fien back on the reserves.

The Panthers dominated the Tweed 26-6 and will be taking that form into this week against the top of the table Bears.

The grass was green for the Panthers; Lilly Green as the fullback scored two tries and made two line breaks.

Fiona Jahnke is out for the Panthers; Jahnke came off after 11 minutes against the Seagulls.

The Bears started their onslaught straight away with a try in the fifth minute and then went to work; not stopping against the Valkyries until the 65th minute when the game ended with the score at 52-4. Ten tries and three to both Millie Boyle and Jetaya Faifua completed the strong win. Karina Brown made 205 metres from fullback, returning the ball for the Bears and making ground every time.

Boyle was out of control with three tries, 105 metres, two line breaks and four tackle breaks.

This game will be streamed on the Panthers Facebook page. 

The Valkyries will need to turn around some things to change the result from the 52-4 loss against Burleigh. The Valkyries had 50 per cent of the ball, but just couldn’t make good attacking use of it when they did have it.

The Bears made too much ground and the Valkyries defence couldn’t stop the momentum. Michaela Peck did her best to stop the points, with 23 tackles. Peck did her best to drive the Valkyries forward as well with her kicking game and gained 176 metres.

The Gold Stars had a great win 30-4 over the Tigers, with Katie Green scoring two tries, to help the Stars claim three wins in a row. Jasmine Peters was an attacking machine with 167 metres of well-earned turf and a line break and three tackle breaks.

The Stars are now in the top three and only lost one game.