Falcons and Bears push to produce good form into the finals

Last round, the Falcons had to contend with the top-of-the-table Wynnum Manly Seagulls and came away with a respectable 24-18 loss.

The Falcons gave the Seagulls too much ball and their opposition took all the chances they were handed.

Sam Reid was strong for the Sunshine Coast with 139 metres and Jake Zammit worked hard in defence with 42 tackles.

Falcons coach Jamie Vogler said his team knew what needed to be improved this week against the Bears.

“You’re not going to beat Wynnum too often with 43 per cent of the ball, so that is the first thing that needs fixing,” Vogler said.

“We have two home games in a row now, so it’s a good chance to stay home and play good football.

“We had some great performers like Sam Reid and Jake Zammit, we lost our front rower Kaleb Sutton early five minutes into the game so that made it hard.

“He is back this week, so that helps.”

On the other side of this battle of the hot sand will be the Bears who accounted handsomely for the Ipswich Jets last round 74-20.

The Bears scored 13 tries and made 12 line breaks and 52 tackle breaks.

The big metre gainer for the Bears was Isaac Matalavea-Booth who made 179 metres while Tuvalli Pereira added three line breaks to his season tally. Cameron Brown was amongst the points and now sits on 132 points for the Bears to be second overall.

Bears coach Jamie Mahon said his side were up for the challenge this weekend.

“We lost the last four games before lockdown, so we were down on confidence; so a win like that against Ipswich really boosted us again,” Mahon said.

“We played well and got a great result at exactly the right time.

“The Falcons are a danger and a player like Jai Smoothy has to be pressured. If you allow him to just move the Falcons around the field, you will pay a pretty big price.”

In other matches in this weekend’s Crazy Sock Round games, the Townsville Blackhawks will be looking to catch some Tweed Seagulls in their blades this week. This could be the game of the round with Townsville in second place and Tweed in third.

The Blackhawks blew Mackay Cutters away 52-18 with 10 tries to three last round, with Dylan White outstanding for his team with 210 metres which included two tries and six goals.

The Tweed also flexed their finals muscle with a 48-16 win over the Pride in Cairns. Jaylan To’o loves making ground and did plenty of it for Tweed with 210 metres.

Brisbane Tigers and Souths Logan Magpies will clash with both teams bringing confidence to this game.

Both sides are coming off wins, with the Magpies beating Western Mustangs last round.

Forward Cruise Ten would have received a 10/10 rating in the Rugby League Week player ratings after making 173 metres with the ball and topping the tackle count with 42.

The Tigers had a close one against their old foe the Redcliffe Dolphins and won 26-24.

Ronald Philitoga made ground for the Tigers with 210 metres and Simon Pratt stopped any Dolphin that swam his way with 38 tackles.

The Tigers are in second and are a team that will be looking to make sure they are tuned nicely for the finals while the Magpies in sixth and in that group of teams on 14 points.

Central Queensland Capras and Mustangs will both be after a win to head to the offseason on a positive note.

The Mustangs are coming off a 42-14 loss to the Magpies; but were up to their necks in the game at 14-10 before falling away.

The Capras went to Bishop Park and nearly came away with a win, which is no easy feat.

The four-point 28-24 loss to the Devils will give the Capras plenty of positives and performances like that from Mitchell Leard-Lamont who made 208 metres and 41 tackles will fill the Central Queensland team with joy.

The Jets and Cutters will end Saturday with both teams pondering how it went wrong last week.

Ipswich were beaten 74-20 and the Cutters were beaten 52-18.

The Jets had no ball, so that will be high on coach Chris Ash’s agenda this week – the Jets need to get the ball and keep it. Riley Morris tried his heart out for the Jets and finished with 27 tackles.

The Cutters were outclassed by Townsville who made 13-line breaks to four and forced the Cutters to miss 54 tackles.

When Sunday dawns, it will bring the Devils and the Wynnum Seagulls together at the home of the Seagulls.

The Seagulls have 10 wins from 12 games and have monstered all comers, scoring 496 points this year and only conceding 188 against.

Last round, the Gulls beat the Falcons and the next two weeks are about making sure that there are no hiccups into the finals.

The Devils had a win over the Capras and would love to lower Wynnum’s colours before they start the finals and would bring joy to everyone at Bishop Park if they could get the two points.

The Dolphins are in ladder jam and still have finals dreams swirling around their head, but need lots of things to go their way for that dream to come true.

His had Alan McIndoe may have been the Emerald Express, but Harrison McIndoe is the Redcliffe Express, with the young Dolphin impressing this season. Last week, he made 209 metres against the Tigers and scored one try.

The Pride are coming back from a 48-16 loss to the Tweed, but didn’t give themselves a chance in that game.

However, a positive was Robert Derby, who made 178 metres and Zane Knowles with his 36 tackles.

QRL Judiciary Results - Round 16