Veteran has NRL return in his sights
Bears flex their premiership muscle
connor.obrien@news.com.au BURLEIGH have stamped their mark on the Gold Coast Rugby League competition by putting together a clinical 16try annihilation of Currumbin.
Fullback Toby McIntosh had a field day running in five tries while Troy Leo and Olly Regan scored four and three respectively in the 86-0 romp.
Bears coach Stuart Wilkins was delighted with the performance yesterday, his side overcoming the late injuryforced withdrawal of fiveeighth Keanu Te Kiri. “We’ve had big wins before but they were ruthless … @obrien_GCB today,” a happy Wilkins said. “They were just really professional. I think it took them 22 minutes to make a mistake. They gave away four penalties all game.
“They executed the game plan perfectly … our middles didn’t score much at all and the outside backs scored lots and lots of tries which is exactly what we were trying to do.”
Wilkins said he had heard people already downplay the result as a factor of their opposition’s weakness – a suggestion he refuted.
“They beat Southport, they got beaten by Bilambil who are a quality side by four points last week,” he said. Burleigh R’way Bay Bilambil Tweed Tugun Currumbin Southport Ormeau P W D 5 5 0 5 3 0 5 3 0 5 3 0 5 2 1 5 2 0 5 1 1 5 0 0 L F A 0 226 56 2 118 88 2 120104 2 112 38 2 94 108 3 74 162 3 92 94 5 38 196 Pts 15 11 11 11 10 9 8 5
“I don’t accept that they are a low-level side, my view is they are a strong side.
“Honestly we played the best football we have played in a couple of years.”
McIntosh joined the Bears after claiming the Northern Rivers player of the year award in a premiership-winning 2016 season for Murwillumbah.
Wilkins said the young gun had a slow start to the season but has found his groove since being moved from centre.
Around the grounds, it was a day of big try-scoring hauls: Regan Muir (Tweed Heads) and Lamonz Williams (Southport) both nabbed hat-tricks in their respective fixtures.
Tweed stunned secondplaced Runaway Bay 32-0 while the Tigers thrashed Ormeau 42-4.
Down at Bilambil, Tugun registered a 32-14 win against the Jets to get their premiership defence back on track.