Seagulls win back-to-back BRL titles, sweep all three grades

Surprise hero Trevor Monaei notched a hat-trick to help Wynnum Manly Juniors win back-to-back BRL premierships in a thriller over West Brisbane Panthers on Saturday - completing a 'green sweep' of all three grades at Totally Workwear Stadium.

The defending premiers had a disastrous start, handing the ball to West Brisbane Panthers off the kickoff, and they made the Seagulls pay through winger Jalen Reweti - against the team he won the premiership with 12 months earlier - in the ensuing set.

After the early shock, Wynnum Manly Juniors settled into their rhythm and the big men rolled up the middle. Prop Lachlan Lee was the catalyst for a repeat set on Wests' line, of all things from a kick Kyle Van Klaveren spilled back to Lee close to the line.

Despite the Panthers' best efforts, Jack Stafford snuck over in the corner on the back of a miracle offload from centre Trevor Monaei.

A crafty sideline conversion from Toby Westcott in difficult conditions had the scores level after 20 minutes.

West Brisbane returned serve when they next got the ball, through a Nathan Brown penalty goal to make 8-6, before again inviting the Seagulls deep into their territory.

They took full advantage in the 26th minute down their left side once again when Monaei - who only found out on Thursday he would be playing - scored a try of his own, cleaning up a pass on the bounce from five-eighth Calum Pereira to barge over.

Wynnum Manly added two points with a penalty goal in the 38th minute to take it to 14-8 before Nathan Brown added a penalty goal from 41m out right on half-time to make it 14-10.

Monaei was in the action again for the Seagulls in the 47th minute, stepping of his left foot close to the line and dragging four defenders over the stripe before slamming the ball down; Westcott nailing the sideline conversion to make it 20-10.

West Brisbane started chancing their arm with interchanges of passes between the forwards, and offloads, but couldn't take advantage of the field position they had earned.

Wynnum Manly Juniors made them pay through the rampant left side yet again in the 63rd minute as late call-up Monaei crashed over to complete an unlikely hat-trick, the 24-10 lead giving the Panthers a mountain to climb to recover.

The minor premiers gave themselves hope with a try in the 69th minute to Regan Glynn following a mercurial flick pass from second rower William Toloi, then in the 76th minute Glynn broke away to set up his winger Zion Johnson and Brown converted to make it 24-20 with three minutes to go.

But it wasn't enough to close the gap, as the trophy headed bayside once again.

Player of the match Monaei was surprised to even be there on grand final day, in more ways than one.

The 2023 premiership player missed multiple weeks with a knee injury and struggled to reclaim a place in a side that at one stage appeared unlikely to even make the top five.

The Seagulls won six consecutive matches, while also relying on other results to reach the postseason, before adding the four finals matches for a 10-game winning streak.

"We were playing elimination games just about for the second half of the season, because we had a very poor start," Monaei said.

"I wasn't even meant to be playing today mate, I was a late inclusion, our fullback (Karwyn Fuller) got a head knock last week and I was lucky to be able to play.

"Harro (coach Jason Harris) gave me a call and told me, we believe in you and they know what I can do and all have faith I can get the job done.

"I was happy not just for my myself, but also my teammates. We all came out here with one goal in mind, and that was just to back-to-back, and for our fullback.

"All last year to this year, I've had things going on outside of footy and that, but I'm a man of faith, so I pray and have faith God has a plan for me, and I'm not here by mistake."

Monaei said never looking too far ahead was the key to the team's turnaround this year, and on grand final day threw their previous results against the Panthers out the window, taking in a game plan that started with dominating the middle.

"We got guys like Connor Brebner, Lachlan Lee, 'Wardy' (Nathan Ward), oh man he's a tough fella, our lock, small fella but he's tough, all workhorses our middles, and it's thanks to them we got the job done.

"I didn't do much, I was just standing on the try line and going over."

Wynnum Manly Juniors captain James Robinson said the club always believed Monaei would do the job well, praising the centre and back five for their work, and was simply proud of everyone for securing the win despite a late scare.

"It's been the story of our season really, making it a lot harder than it needs to be, but it just shows the resilience of these guys, I love every one of them," he said.

"It's just Wynnum culture, we never give up, we never stop believing.

"We were just fighting for each other, playing for the bloke beside us, just never going away.

"It's a massive achievement for the club, it goes to show the processes we've got in place and the culture across the whole club."

Earlier, the red-and-green army celebrated a 28-8 win in reserve grade over Bulimba, and a 28-18 win also over West Brisbane in under 21s.