The Redcliffe Dolphins and Burleigh Bears showed their class in the semi-finals, dominating their opposition and booking their spots in this Saturday’s Grand Final in the Mal Meninga Cup, presented by Ford.
Mal Meninga Cup Semi-Finals
Redcliffe Dolphins 42 def Mackay Cutters 14 at Kayo Stadium, Redcliffe
The Redcliffe Dolphins will roll into the Grand Final filled with confidence after making light work of the Mackay Cutters at home.
Xavier Kirk opened the scoring after being the beneficiary of a line break kicked off by the purest of seeds from Noah Fien, as his face ball created space for Callum Boyles to break the line and shift right to Kirk who strolled through untouched.
The Dolphins would add on another two tries through Lachlan Buchbach and Jeremiah Patea, racing out to a 18-0 lead after twelve minutes.
Entering the second half up 34-4, the Dolphins would continue to outclass the Cutters as fullback Reeco Kirk would score three minutes later to push the lead out even further.
Mackay would score another two tries in the second half as the Cutters refused to lay down, but unfortunately the score would still finish lopsided in favour of the Dolphins 42-14.
The Mackay Cutters should hold their heads high following Saturday’s defeat, as a semi-final berth is a great achievement regardless of Saturday’s final score line.
Burleigh Bears 30 def Tweed Seagulls 14 at Piggabeen Sports Complex, Tweed Heads
Despite being buoyed by the return of incumbent Hostplus Cup players Zane Harrison and Sam Stephenson, the minor premiers Seagulls failed to progress through to the Grand Final, being defeated by a spirited Burleigh Bears side.
The Burleigh Bears would draw blood first through Antonio Verhoeven who outleaped Seagulls defenders to grab a haphazardly bouncing ball off a bomb.
From scoring to assisting, Verhoeven was again involved in a try, assisting Kilarney Lavender to put the Bears ahead 12-0 within the opening five minutes of the game.
The combination of Verhoeven and Lavender came to prominence once more for the Bears’ third try before the Seagulls hit back through a slick show and go from fullback Raymond Puru.
The Bears ten-point lead at the half would be extended by second-rower Jett Bryce who ran a delectable line splitting the Seagulls’ defence.
Despite being briefly wounded by a late cheap shot, Bears halfback Marley McLaren showed great metal to continue engaging the line.
This toughness would pay dividends for McLaren, as he drew in his outside defender to put fullback Saxon Innes through for the game sealing try.
