Round 21 Sunday wrap: Finals hopefuls Wynnum Manly, Hunters earn key wins

It wasn't long after the resumption when Norths hit back through Tesi Niu, but even with the wind against them the Seagulls persisted, making the most of their opponents' ill-discipline to take the lead with back-to-back tries.

Kurt Falls' solo try was quickly followed by Oliver Pascoe easing his way through off a beautiful ball from Bryce Donovan and it was 24-16 to the visitors with less than 20 minutes remaining.

James Flack's sin bin for a late tackle hampered Norths' chances of a comeback, as Cooper Page-Wilson and Fua Schwalger tries boosted the Seagulls differential.

Wynnum Manly halfback Bryce Donovan was relieved his side could break the drought and show what they were capable of.

"I think maybe a lot of teams have sort of written us off, so it was good to get another win, but it was more for us, we're not worried too much about changing anyone's opinion, we just wanted to show ourselves we could do it and get that belief back that we can win these kind of games. It was good," he said.

"When they scored to go 12-6 up, we still felt relatively comfortable. We'd obviously had a defensive lapse and hurt ourselves a bit, but we just wanted to stick to our game plan and it worked.

"We knew they would have a big breeze behind them (second half), we had it in the first half, so we tipped up any early kicks, it definitely made kicking for touch and goalkicking a bit interesting - I was lucky most of them were in close, it was pretty windy - but we handled it well."

Donovan said Brendan Frei's leadership was crucial to ensuring his side kept their head when in previous matches they have faltered, while praising Cory Paix for bringing the energy the team needed.

"I know he probably wants to be playing NRL, and he probably should be, he's too good for Cup, but each week he comes back as if he's with us full time and his energy, effort and commitment to this team in unreal," he said.

"He's been one of our better players all year."

The Seagulls challenge is now backing it up against the Blackhawks next Saturday at BMD Kougari Oval, where they will need to win to keep their finals fate in their own hands.

"They gave us a pretty big scare earlier in the year, we were up pretty comfortably and I think only won by six points after being up huge with 15 or 20 (minutes) to go, so they're a quality side with strike all over the park, so we're going to have to be at our best," Donovan said.

Norths Devils five-eighth Julian Christian said it was a wake-up call to ensure such concerning lapses in application in discipline were ironed out before finals, with a battle still burning for second spot.

"We've done that a couple of times, got really good starts but we just need to manage it," he said.

"Our end to sets was really hurt us and silly errors, our discipline, all those one-percenters really come back and hurt us.

"We thought because we had such a good start it was going to hold them off, but credit to Wynnum too, they had good ends to sets and capitalised when they need to and come away with the two points.

"We'll be bigger and better next week, we get a couple of boys back, and we'll fix what we need to fix at training in those areas and be ready for finals.

"It's always a dogfight coming down to the last two rounds and we really want to zone in and get that top two spot because obviously top two get that home game (in finals week one) and we could really use it."

The result also assured Northern Pride the minor premiership for season 2024.

It was all-out attack in Port Moresby, as PNG Hunters had the home crowd roaring with two tries in the opening five minutes, but 15 minutes later Tweed had an 18-10 lead. The Hunters score two late in the half to lead at half-time before overpowering the Seagulls for a 42-30 win.

It was a grinding battle in Toowoomba, with Brisbane Tigers scoring two tries in the first 17 minutes before the Clydesdales closed to within two points shortly after half-time. The classy Tigers pulled away with three more tries to earn a 16-point win.