Bears playmaker wishes he had half a bit of luck

BURLEIGH coach Jimmy Lenihan says star recruit Harry Siejka must be cursed after yet another injury forced him to be a late withdrawal from the Bears’ 20-12 loss in Papua New Guinea yesterday.

Siejka, a former NRL and Super League halfback tipped for big things at the Queensland Cup club, has barely set foot on the field this season due to knee, ankle and hamstring troubles.

Then, on the eve of the traditionally tough trek to PNG, the personal trainer was again forced back to the sidelines when he broke his finger at work.

“He is cursed or something,” Lenihan said.

Despite being severely undermanned due to further injuries to Nate Peteru, Henare Wells, Jamie Dowling and Daniel Vidot, the Bears long threatened to become only the third visiting team to take victory on Hunters turf this year.

Tries to Pat Politoni and Matt White gave Burleigh a 12-4 lead early in the contest but the struggling side were gradually reined in by the competition leaders.

Lenihan said the bounce of the ball ultimately hadn’t been kind to their hopes of snatching the points.

“We competed really well, I thought we did a really good job in a tough game,” he said.

“In the end, there was two sort of grubber kicks that ricocheted off people that they scored off which was probably the difference.

“We tried hard, our middles worked really well. We were just on the wrong side of the scoreboard at full-time.”

Bears fans back at Pizzey Park witnessed a lopsided scoreline as their Gold Coast Rugby League side ran in 20 tries to blitz Ormeau 110-4. Utility Sam Grant celebrated a rare five-try haul.

Burleigh’s next QCup assignment is against Tweed, who had a Round 18 bye.