Farr scores hat-trick on debut as Seagulls roll on against Jets

It was a return to Toowoomba for the Jets and the Seagulls who were back in the city the first time since 2013 and the undefeated Wynnum Seagulls showed their skills and remained unbeaten to claim their eighth win in a row.

Both teams ushered in a number of line up changes before the match and the Jets may have thought their task was going to made be a little easier with young gun fullback Selwyn Cobbo not playing; but Farr had other ideas with the young Rockhampton fullback’s hat-trick coming in the first half.

However, things started well for the Jets at Glenholme Park and they had the start they had spoken about all week when fullback Ono So’oialo went through the Seagulls wall and found his centre Jordan Carriera to claim his third try of 2021.

Josh Cleeland added two points and Ipswich fans were smiling at the 6-0 scoreline after four minutes.

That try however snapped the Seagulls into gear, with Farr making an impact straight away when he stepped his way though defenders and struck back for his side.

The Seagulls were well and truly awake by now and were on a roll. If Farr used his footwork to get through the line, then former Canberra Raider's forward Luke Bateman did almost the opposite, simply barging his way over three minutes later under the posts for his third try in eight games.

That was followed soon after by Farr who was in again for his second, again using his footwork to step around three Jets to help push the Seagulls to an 18-6 lead.

Ipswich hooker Kierran Moseley reminded the Seagulls of the danger he posed in what was his 50th game for the Jets, nearly getting over for his side – but he was held up near the posts by some solid defence.

Off the back of a penalty, Wynnum Manly were able to get to good field position and set up Farr again for him to claim his debut hat-trick after running straight out of dummy half and through the Jets defence.

In a high-scoring first half, the Jets were able to hit back when Zac Hetherington made a good run to get the ball over the line with five minutes to go before the break.

The Hetherington family are enjoying rugby league at the moment, with the recent NRL debut of Kobe Hetherington, who scored his first try for the Brisbane Broncos this week.

While the Jets were lifted after Hetherington’s try, Wynnum Manly's Ed Burns wrested back the momentum in the final minute of the half, when he made a great dive for the line and put the ball down while he himself was nearly upside down and at halftime, the Seagulls were up 30-12.

In the second half, the Gulls returned in fine form and it took them only eight minutes to score again when giant forward Francis Tualau steamed through a gap to take his side into good attacking area.

On the back of that run, the Seagulls went left with a ball eventually popped up to Matiu Love-Henry who was able to score his 22nd try in his 68th Intrust Super Cup game.

Wynnum Manly superstar centre Delouise Hoeter is approaching game 100 for the club scored his 44th try for the Seagulls when he went down the right-hand side and found space to open the gap up even further.

However, the Jets are not a team to give up and they kept fighting for survival.

The return of Rhys Jacks – who debuted for the Jets in 2010 – was complete when he fired a pass to Ratu Jope Rotavisoro to get Ipswich back on the board in the second half and narrow the margin to 40-18 with 20 minutes to go.

Ipswich went back-to-back when Richard Pandia scored after a kick bounced and the Jets sent it out to Pandia to score his 36th try.

But the comeback was short-lived and Wynnum Manly extended their lead to past 20 points when Zeb Taia scored and goal kicking wiz Campagnolo slotted his seventh goal from eight attempts.

After the game, Seagulls hooker Jayden Berrell said he was happy to see his team perform well to claim another win.

“We knew Ipswich would want to start fast and make a statement early,” Berrell said.

“We were able to weather that and then come back.

“I keep telling the boys we have one of the best packs in the competition and it makes my work easier to get behind this pack of forwards and just go off that.

“It’s great at Wynnum at the moment, a really happy place.”

Next weekend, the Seagulls will host Mackay Cutters.

The Jets will be at home to Souths Logan Magpies.