Eagles in push for trio of titles
THE Currumbin Eagles missed out on the Gold Coast Rugby League A Grade finals but they will still be the best represented club at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday.
The Eagles will challenge for titles in Reserve Grade, Under-18s and their third consecutive Under-20s title.
Burleigh is the next best represented club with its A Graders followed by an Under-18s side stacked full of some of the Coast’s top schoolboy talent.
Runaway Bay, Helensvale and Tugun will roll the dice with one team carrying each club’s hopes of adding to their trophy cabinet, in A Grade, Under-20s and Reserve Grade respectively.
The Reserve Grader title will be the most hotly contested of the curtain-raisers with Currumbin squaring off with their arch-rivals in the third southern derby clash of the year.
The Eagles are the pacesetters in the division with an undefeated run to the final.
Of all challengers only the Seahawks have come close.
Their 16-all draw in August was the only blemish on the Eagles’ record, which saw their average scoreline balloon out to 38.6 points for and only 14.0 points against.
Captain Jayde Batchelor praised the club’s growing depth as the key to its incredible run in second division.
“That’s probably testament to the club that our team is so strong,” he said.
“We finally have Under-20s coming through for the first time in a few years.
“They’ve gone back-to-back and are now pushing into our team with a winning mentality.”
There is extra motivation for coach Paul Weatherall, who coached Tugun to its last Reserve Grade title in 2016 before joining Currumbin.
His replacement Luke Swain will coach the Seahawks in the final, but said no one at the club had expectations of reaching it throughout the season.
“We’ve been playing semifinals football for a month,” Swain said.
“We would have dropped from second to fifth if we lost our last home game.
“We’ve struggled big time with numbers and had to talk a few blokes out of retirement.
“We had no expectations at all this season, we’ve just played footy and seen how far we can go.”
The performances of gamebreakers Lachie Smith at fullback for Currumbin and former A Grade five-eighth Keanu Te Kiri for Tugun will determine which side ends the day celebrating.
There will be another fitting decider in the Under-20s when Helensvale meets Currumbin.
The two sides ended the season tied for second on the competition ladder and tied in their first and only clash, a round-one thriller that ended in stalemate 22-all.
Helensvale’s superior points differential will see it enter as slight favourite in a game tipped to go down to the wire.
“The most we’ve lost a game by is four points,” coach Wayne Court said.
“This is the best side across the park I’ve ever coached and a good bunch of kids.
“I believe we’re the best side in the comp and player for player there are no weaknesses in them.”
In the Under-18s division Burleigh will call upon an arsenal of Keebra Park and Palm Beach Currumbin Langer Cup weapons as it takes on junior powerhouse Currumbin.
But coach Ali Brown says their biggest difference maker could be a player who makes his mark outside the spotlight.
Centre Jackson Coote is a Burleigh junior without the plaudits of his fancied peers.
“You can rely on him when push comes to shove,” Brown said. “He performs well above his weight and that’s all you can ask for.”