Flock-and-awe time
BURLEIGH have become the Intrust Super Cup’s whipping boys after the Tweed Heads Seagulls thumped them 50-4 in a deflating local derby at Piggabeen yesterday.
The Seagulls never looked troubled by a lethargic Bears outfit who were recently destroyed 78-6 by Townsville. The Bears bounced back from the Blackhawks humiliation with a one-point win over Mackay last weekend but showed worrying signs yesterday as the Seagulls ran all over them.
There wasn’t a bad Seagulls player on the field and they did it a man down for the majority of the match after classy centre Davin Crampton suffered concussion early in the piece.
Tweed Heads ran in 10 tries in the dominant performance which came after a mixed start to the season.
“Burleigh have beaten some of the sides that have beaten us so we had to find where we stand in relation to them,” coach Aaron Zimmerle said.
“The scoreline ... once we broke the drought, it became a flood.
“We kept digging in for each other defensively. In the last two minutes Burleigh got a clean break and (fullback) Shaun Carney came up with a hit to force the turnover.
“Those little things are starting to fall in place.”
There were a couple of scuffles early in the match but that all disappeared as the Seagulls started to put on a clinical performance.
Carney bagged a double despite being on the wrong end of a heavy collision with Bears giant Josh Ailaomai, while Ricardo Parata and Blake Anderson also scored multiple tries.
The Seagulls were guided well by halfback Jamal Fogarty and it took a mistake from winger Nat Barnes for Burleigh to score their only try through Khan Ahwang.
“The difference between our best and worst is a long way,” Bears coach Jim Lenihan said. “The good sides won’t have a big difference between their best and worst.
“We’re enthusiastic and have the right attitude but the penalty count was something crazy early on. We can’t keep giving them fresh starts.
“We did a good job against Mackay one week and then we came out here and it should have been a lot closer.”
Tweed travels to Cairns to face the Pride next weekend while Burleigh is home to Central Capras.