New boss dog as Colleges triumph
BRING it on. That’s the message from Griffith University Colleges captain Troy Hobbs after his side officially became the new target in everyone’s sights as Gold Coast District Rugby Union champions.
The Knights on Saturday ended Surfers Paradise’s twoyear title dominance with a 24-13 win at Bond Pirates to break a 22-year silverware drought of their own.
Outside centre Hobbs was a chief architect, named man of the match in a dream result that left him speechless after the siren.
Upon gathering himself, an “over the moon” Hobbs embraced the fact they can no longer be considered the hunters and laid down an early challenge for 2019.
“We have got goals for next year so we will be recruiting hard. Bring it on,” he smiled.
Colleges set the game up with a 10-0 first-half effort through a penalty and a converted try to James “Misi” Uhatafe, who was given the kicking duties as Cam Dodd battled a thigh strain.
The Knights plotted to put Surfers’ ex-international aces Kris Burton and Ben Gollings off their kicking game to force them into a more expansive style of play than they typically employ.
The Dolphins dug deep to bring the scores back to 16-13 after Dalin Sharrock capitalised on a backline movement but a try to Colleges winger Pila Fifita moments later dashed hopes of a three-peat.
Surfers representative centre Jesse Mcgilvary described his side’s feeling as “flat” but admitted they had expected a tough encounter.
“We’d heard they have been training four times a week so we knew we were coming into something quite challenging that we hadn’t really experienced the last couple of years,” he said. “We never got started. Full credit to them – about time they knocked us off our perch.”
The 27-year-old insisted the loss would drive his team to better things.
“That just makes us hungrier,” Mcgilvary said.
“I was actually going to have a year off just to recoup but not any more. I’ll be back into the off-season training and I think most of the boys will be keen to come back and try to take the title off them again.”
For Colleges, the match was the last for retiring duo Josh Den Elzen and Mitchell Herlihy. His father, coach Graham, reserved special praise for tighthead prop Tereina McLean.
“He’s been out for the last five weeks with a 4cm calf tear,” Graham Herlihy said of McLean.
Colleges pipped Celtics 18-16 in third grade but Nerang stopped a sweep of the titles by beating the Knights 26-21 in second grade.