Burleigh post strong win to deny Wynnum Manly finals

Despite the final scoreline, a win for the Bears didn’t look promising as they trailed 12-8 to the Seagulls heading into the halftime break.

Ill-discipline and handling errors played a major part in the Bears first half performance and allowed Wynnum Manly to take the lead early.

A significant turning point occurred in the 37th minute when Joe Duffy left the field for a HIA following a high tackle from Falakiko Manu which resulted in Manu being sent from the field for the remainder of the afternoon.

It didn’t take long for the Bears to capitalise on the Seagulls missing man through Tony Francis prior to the break.

Some “stern words” from coach Rick Stone at halftime seemed to get his side back on track, with the Bears taking the lead just three minutes into the second half when Francis crossed again for his second try of the afternoon.

With the Seagulls down a player, the Bears found success out wide and went on to score 28 unanswered points before Seagulls skipper Sam Scarlett bagged a consolation try for the away side in the 78th minute.

Stand-out performances for the Bears included Hastings Deering player of the match winning forward Lochlyn Sheldon, with Api-Noema Matenga also strong through the middle. Fullback Taine Tuaupiki, Esan Marsters and Francis were dangerous out wide.

Dante Lusio was also impressive scoring a try and having two denied on debut.

Coach's review

Stone said he was happy to get a win against a desperate Seagulls side and take some wining form into the semi-finals, noting that his side's track record hadn’t been great in previous weeks.

"We defended our goal line a lot better than we have in the past couple of weeks, that was an improvement and something we need to take with us into the semi-finals,” Stone said of his side's goal-line defence.

Stone went on to applaud his side's consistency and hard work throughout the season and had this to say about securing the minor premiership.

“To be first past the post after 20 weeks is a tough task. If you’d asked me at the start of the year if we would be minor premiers, I wouldn’t have even known what to say to be honest," Stone said. 

“It probably is a reflection of your consistency throughout the year, I think we’ve used 36 players throughout the season and I’m really happy for everyone that has been involved in our squad.

"The majority of our combined Hostplus Cup and A Grade squad have nearly all played Cup this year.

“Some of them tasted their first win today which was nice and some of them scored their first try like Dante [Lusio]. He’s been great, training with us and filling in for the Titans boys each week and then dropping out of the squad at the end of the week when the Titans boys come back.

"He got a game today and scored a try and showed he wasn’t out of place at all.”

Stone also went on to praise recent debutants Daniel Shannon, Joe Duffy and Jayden Sharp.

“Hopefully we can get a few boys back next week, Sam Coster is one we can definitely get back and maybe one or two others.

We’ll dust ourselves off and get ready for Norths hopefully next Sunday here [at Pizzey].”