Wynnum secure a spot in the grand final

Wynnum Manly Seagulls secured one of the spots up for grabs in next week’s Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup grand final with an emphatic 30-12 victory over the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Holding the Falcons scoreless in the first half gave some indication of the one-sided affair at BMD Kougari Oval.

The Seagulls won this game on defence, with the entire forward pack tireless throughout.

A dropped Falcons ball scooped up by the Seagulls' Evander Tere-Rongotaua, saw the powerful centre sneak a brilliant around the corner pass to winger Grand Hagai, who dived into the air and crossed in the corner in the fourth minute of play.

The Falcons ball control was their biggest enemy in this game.

The Seagulls seized the opportunities given to them by the poor ball handling and were rewarded with another try eight minutes later.

Seagulls hooker Jake Simpkin delivered a neat pass to workaholic prop Jayden Clarkson, who bulldozed his way over the line.

Simpkin would be involved in the Seagulls' next try, twisting and turning out of dummy half to plant the ball right on the chalk.

The Falcons looked lethargic at this stage of the game as they faced a relentless Seagulls. 

Another piece of individual brilliance by hooker Simpkin provided the opportunity out of dummy half for the talented Seagulls five-eighth Max Plath, to increase the scoreline to 20-0 with the Falcons heading into the sheds for some much-needed respite.

At the start of the second half, things went from bad to worse for the Falcons after Seagulls halfback William Parslow put through a grubber kick that was fumbled by the Falcons.

From that mistake, Seagulls winger Zaen Edmonds picked up the loose ball and raced in untouched to score a further gift two points.

Arguably the Seagulls' best player on the day Plath, stepped and crossed for another Seagulls try, with three Falcons defenders holding on to somehow plant the ball down beside the sticks.

The Falcons wouldn’t go away, however, and a late resurgence finally saw their first points of the day with seven minutes remaining.

Talented five eighth Zac Laybutt scored left of the posts with a superb solo effort.

Not four minutes later, the Falcons would go in again, this time through second rower Jayden Taufa crashed his way over.

The Seagulls, however, had done enough to secure a well-deserved spot in next week's grand final, running out eventual winners.