Shattered Tweed squad mull uncertain future
DEVASTATED Tweed players must now assess their Rugby League Gold Coast futures after falling agonisingly short of an A-grade title.
Runaway Bay proved too good for Tweed in a 36-10 grand final scoreline yesterday, despite a never-give-up display led by Rex Johnson, Shaun Carney and Josh Harvey.
Johnson, 28, defied the syndesmosis injury he has battled for the past three weeks to regularly be first man on the scene when his side were scrambling in defence.
Veteran forward Harvey, meanwhile, invoked memories of Scott Sattler’s famous 2003 grand final tackle with an inspirational chase to cut down Dylan Pelo just three minutes before time would be called on Tweed’s RLGC involvement.
Harvey was ultimately sinbinned for holding onto Pelo too long but the effort alone proved the men from Piggabeen never budged.
“You can tell how much he loves it. I’m a bit heartbroken for him but that’s footy,” Johnson said. “You take your wins and your losses and just come back better and stronger next year I guess.”
With Tweed focusing purely on the Intrust Super Cup and state-level under-20 and under-18 competitions next year, Johnson is one of many unsure of where he will play if he misses ISC selection.
The father of daughters Tianah, 8, and Taiya, 2, confirmed he planned to play on the Coast though, having switched from Newcastle in the off-season. “I’m happy playing footy here, being around my kids. My children are more important than anything,” he said.
“I don’t really have a preference at the moment (between other RLGC teams).”