Coach sweet with Bears’ bitter end
BURLEIGH coach Jimmy Lenihan has declared their straight-sets exit has not taken the shine off an outstanding Intrust Super Cup campaign.
The Bears appeared to be frontrunners for a repeat of their 2016 premiership when they secured a top-two finish and carried a four-game winning streak into the finals series.
However, they will be left to watch the Suncorp Stadium decider next Sunday after backing up their 13-6 loss to Redcliffe with a 36-26 defeat to Easts on Saturday.
Lenihan though insists they should be happy.
“It’s a positive year. We have had a really fantastic year,” he said. “Last year we might have come eighth or ninth, this year we were one game away from a grand final and pretty much throughout the year we have done it with a lot of injuries.
“The depth that we have had throughout the whole club is a wonderful sign moving forward into next year. We have educated more blokes in the way they have got to play footy at this level.
“As disappointing as it is, it has been a good year for us.”
After being the dominant force through the first half of the year, Burleigh never regained their momentum after a mid-season injury crisis.
Their loss in front of their home fans on Saturday was down to a mix of coach-killers and a powerful Easts pack that reigned supreme.
Albert Vete got the Tigers on the front foot early and was backed up by interchange forwards Sam Kasiano and Tino Faasuamaleaui.
Burleigh managed to bounce back to take a 12-8 halftime lead after Dylan Phythian pounced on a Jamal Fogarty grubber and then captain Luke Page redeemed himself for being sin-binned by reaching out for a 39th minute try. But three tries in a 10-minute blitz after the break swung the game the visitors’ way.
Retiring prop Matt White enjoyed a couple of nice moments in what proved to be his farewell match, leading the team out onto the field and then kicking the gameending conversion after Jai Whitbread scored under the posts.
The Tigers will face Redcliffe in the decider.
THE DEPTH WE HAVE HAD THROUGHOUT THE CLUB IS A WONDERFUL SIGN MOVING FORWARD
JIMMY LENIHAN