Junior statewide competitions Round 6 preview

Round 5 against the Townsville Blackhawks didn’t leave the Capras with a lot of positives. Down 18-0 at half-time, Townsville piled on the points in the second half and went on to win 44-0.

The Capras will be working hard to fix a few things and turn it around against the Pride.

Possession was a huge issue in Round 5, with 38 percent of the ball not helping the Central Queensland team.

Fifteen sets compared to 30 was also a real red flag for the Capras and that meant that pressure built and once they lost control, the Blackhawks could make 62 tackle breaks.

Carter Ford tried hard and made ground for the Capras with 126 run metres while Braith Smith made 21 tackles.

Capras coach RJ Stewart knows what went wrong and why.

"We made 62 more tackles than them and you just can’t keep doing that,” Stewart said.

“I feel like not scoring in the first half was a big turning point. We identified two chances to score which we didn’t take and if we had gone into halftime with 10 or 12 points that changes the second half.

“Our confidence was down and the guys just didn’t have the experience to cope with that.

“We have changed some things this week and we need to hold onto the ball and give ourselves a chance.

“Our middle has been very good. They are young but they are really taking it to guys that are 12 months older than them.”

The Pride meanwhile came away from their game against the Cutters with a draw and that is a pretty good outcome considering they had 45 per cent of the ball.

The Pride's big gains were made by lock Cain Hastie, who made 21 tackles, and with the ball Jason Hallie made a mammoth 229 run metres.

The Pride only had 17 completed sets against the Cutters and will want to improve that against the Capras.

For the full round draw and team lists, click here.

Harvey Norman Under 19s

The Sunshine Coast Falcons Harvey Norman Under 19s side will be on the road  this week to take on the Wide Bay Bulls.

The Falcons have had it all over the Bulls the last two times they have met with the Falcons winning 64-6 and 26-0.

The Falcons however are coming off a 42-16 loss to the Jets in Ipswich and will be looking to correct some things this week.

They were starved of the ball in Round 5 and the Jets were able to capitalise on any errors.

In attack the Falcons will look to improve their three line breaks and seven tackle breaks and in defence not make 66 more tackles than the Bulls.

Nancy Sullivan will need to replicate her defence against the Bulls; she kept turning the Jets away and made 18 tackles.

Tianna Fry made 98 metres and Shannyn Harm made one line break.

Falcons coach Dennis Moore is keen to control more of the controllable.

“We just didn’t have the ball... you can’t defend for 66 more tackles on the hottest day and against a good Ipswich side and think it’ll be alright,” Moore said.

“We did too much tackling and then you get the ball and too tired to do anything.

“That’s our lesson. We need to keep the ball and tire them out.

“We had some consistent players like Takoda Thompson who is the same every week.”

It wasn’t a great day out at Toowoomba for the Wide Bay Bulls either with a 46-10 loss to the Western Clydesdales.

The Bulls will take some positives out of the loss with Wide Bay controlling the ball and just needing to find their mojo in attack.

Taryn Knight did a great job in attack with 148 run metres and Mikala Lobegeier made 22 tackles.

For the full round draw and team lists, click here.

Cyril Connell Challenge

Tweed will be up nice and early Saturday morning for their clash with Norths Devils.

The 9:40am kick-off time may remind a few Cyril Connell Seagulls of their junior days.

Tweed are coming off an excursion to Souths Logan’s Logan Metro Footbal Fields which resulted in a 26-16 loss.

Tweed Seagulls started well with a try inside the first three minutes but from there it was the Magpies scoring consistently and applying pressure to the Seagulls.

One massive positive will be the Seagulls having 55 per cent of the ball but the negative will be what they did with it when they had it.

Three tries means the Seagulls didn’t throw enough at the Magpies.

The Seagulls had some high performers with Malakai Mosaati making 17 tackles and Dylan Watkins making 158 run metres with two line breaks.

Norths Devils had a similar afternoon against the Dolphins losing 20-14.

With only 45 per cent of possession, the Devils just didn’t control where and when they gave the Dolphins the ball.

Norths did a lot right that they will be taking into this week.

Six offloads was a great attacking weapon that promoted the ball and 23 missed tackles is miniscule. Fynn Dalton made 23 tackles to top the tackle count for the game and Cooper McInnerney made 99 run metres for the Devils.

Two line breaks from Devine Timu kept the Devils in attacking range.

For a full round draw and team lists, click here.

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