Townsville away trip supporter package available for Gulls fans

The Seagulls are only step away from the Intrust Super Cup grand final and the only thing remaining in their path is the Townsville Blackhawks.

Helloworld travel Wynnum are making it easy for supporters to follow up the team into enemy territory.

Join the Seagulls up north with the following exclusive supporter package.

Seagulls Supporter Townsville Travel Package

Depart Brisbane on Saturday at 8.50am to arrive Townsville at 10.55am.

Depart Townsville on Sunday at 1.55pm to arrive Brisbane at 3.45pm.

1 night at Mercure Townsville

From: $705 per person – to include breakfast add $30 per person

Contact 3393 4000 to book your place.

Intrust Super Cup Preliminary Final: 3:00pm at Jack Manski Oval

Hastings Deering Colts Preliminary Final: 1:00pm at Jack Manski Oval 

Wynnum soar to eliminate reigning premiers Redcliffe

By Simon Rathbone & Jorja Brinums (QRL Media)

The Chook Pen lit up when Wynnum Manly Seagulls beat Redcliffe Dolphins 20-16 in the elimination final at BMD Kougari Oval this afternoon.

The Seagulls will face now the Townsville Blackhawks in next week’s preliminary final.

After recovering from a horror start to the season, which saw them win just three of their opening 11 games, Redcliffe went on a remarkable winning streak only for their hopes of back-to-back premierships to be dashed by a strong Seagulls outfit this afternoon.

While the Seagulls dominated the first half, Redcliffe certainly made the home fans nervous as they romped home late in the game, only for the Seagulls to hold on for a narrow four-point victory.

Seagulls skipper Mitch Cronin said he was glad his team got the win after “a really hard” game.

“We came in with the intention to start hard and we did. Second half we got a really bad start – they were all over us through the middle, but we hung in there and showed that it meant heaps to us,” Cronin said.

“We defended really well and came away with the win.”

Cronin said he was impressed with Hastings Deering Man of the Match Sam Scarlett.

“Sammy Scarlett, man of the match, came up with some big plays. He got an intercept that saved a try down the end. And they got an intercept and he one-on-one raked it which turned the match,” Cronin said.

“In all the big moments he stood up. He was our leader in halfback.”

Disappointed Redcliffe star Izaia Perese said “it was definitely not the result we were after”.

“It was definitely a game either team could have won. It just came down to who wanted it more at the end of the day,” Perese said.

Perese said Jordan Grant and Nathan Watts really dug deep for Redcliffe, but it proved not enough.

“They’ve been amazing all year, but those two in particular always have a crack regardless of which way the game is going.”

Giving away a penalty in the very first play of the game, Redcliffe struggled to curb their aggression in the opening exchanges, which saw Wynnum Manly open their account first through a Pat Templeman penalty goal in the fourth minute.

After making some early errors, Edene Gebbie made up for his mistakes when when he threaded through an audacious grubber from his own 30-metre line, which found its way in the arms of winger Junior Pauga, who then offloaded back to that man Gebbie, who would brush past two would-be Redcliffe defenders to score under the posts.

An error from Redcliffe fullback Trai Fuller proved costly as Wynnum Manly half Scarlett added yet another try assist to his ever growing tally, delivering a lovely short pass to tackle-breaking forward Kalolo Saitaua, who broke through the line to slam the ball down next to the posts in the 26th minute.

The first half ended with some frantic football by both sides, with both threatening to run the length of the field only for the siren to put an end to the craziness.

Wynnum Manly went into the sheds with a 14-0 advantage.

Redcliffe certainly came out firing in the second half, with Harry Smith making the most of a Perese break, as he darted from dummy half and barged his way over in the 41st minute to make it 14-6.

Another error from Gebbie opened the door for Redcliffe to make it two quick tries, only for Corey Paix to let an overlap go begging by throwing the dummy and being tackled to release the pressure for a tiring Wynnum Manly outfit.

After coming out of the sheds firing, Redcliffe were presented with plenty of opportunities to make it back-to-back tries, but failed to keep their composure in the big moments; often taking the wrong option in attack, with tries going begging on numerous occasions.

You have to take your opportunities in finals footy and Wynnum Manly eventually made Redcliffe pay for their mistakes, when Kelly Tate slammed down a Scarlett grubber in the 56th minute – much to the delight of their loyal fans in the Chook Pen.

A deflected Wynnum Manly kick gifted Redcliffe some good field position and they finally scored their second try for the afternoon, when Jamil Hopoate was the first to the ball after Edward Burns failed to clean up a Redcliffe grubber in the 61st minute to make it 20-10.

The momentum then began to shift in Redcliffe’s favour, suddenly making Wynnum do all the tackling as they began to roll through the middle of the field with ease.

The comeback was well and truly on with Redcliffe scoring their second try in only a few minutes with Josh Beehag using his strength to go over in the corner in the 64th minute – making it 20-16 with 16 minutes remaining.

A huge shot from Jordan Grant forced an error from his opposite number Aaron Rockley and the play was met with raucous applause from his teammates as Redcliffe continued to mount pressure on the Seagulls.

However, just as they have done all year, Wynnum Manly refused to go down without a fight and held off the rampaging Redcliffe outfit in the dying stages to hold on for a gutsy 20-16 win.

Wynnum will have to back up their impressive performance next week when they take on the high flying Blackhawks at Jack Manski Oval for a place in the Intrust Super Cup grand final.

Seagulls v Dolphins: Semi Final 2 Preview

Wynnum Manly Seagulls v Redcliffe Dolphins
BMD Kougari Oval on Sunday, September 15 – 12.05pm*
Watch live on GEM
Head-to-Head: Redcliffe 31 Wynnum 18 drawn 2
Head-to-Head finals results: Redcliffe 3 – Wynnum 2 (1997 1v2 Red 17-12; 2003 preliminary final Redcliffe 46-26; 2008 elimination final Redcliffe 50-16; 2011 preliminary final Wynnum 36-0; 2012 grand final Wynnum 20-10)
Overall finals record: Wynnum – played 25, won 11, lost 14; Redcliffe – played 50, won 31, lost 19
Twitter: #intrustsupercup #WYNvPHINS #UptheGulls #lesscroo #wearethedolphins

  • As if the rivalry couldn’t get any bigger! Old foes the Dolphins and Wynnum Manly Seagulls will go head to head in week two of the finals to see who will progress to face the Townsville Blackhawks in the preliminary final.
  • This season, the sides have recorded one win apiece. In Round 17, Redcliffe were too good when they claimed a 32-20 win at Dolphin Stadium; while back in Round 3, the Seagulls were the victors 18-10 at BMD Kougari Oval.
  • The Dolphins come into this game after a thrilling one-point win over Tweed last weekend, while Wynnum’s loss at home last week against Burleigh was only their second in 12 games at BMD Kougari Oval this year.
  • Redcliffe have won their past six, and 10 of their past 11 games – a huge turnaround from the start of the season where they only won four of their first 13 games.
  • In the head-to-head states, Redcliffe come out on top and they have also won three of the past four games played against the Gulls. They have also claimed three of the past four games against them at BMD Kougari Oval.
  • Redcliffe have won their past five away games, after winning only one of their first seven away games this year.
  • In a stat they will want to turn around quick smart, Wynnum Manly have lost the past three finals matches they have been involved with.
  • On the other hand, the Dolphins have won their past four finals matches.
  • Wynnum Manly five-eighth Patrick Templeman scored a try and kicked four goals in his side’s loss to Burleigh last weekend and is now 18 points short of the club’s Cup points scoring record of 192 set by Damien Quinn in 2003.
  • Named in the centres for this weekend’s match, this is set to be the 50th appearance for Redcliffe for Jeremy Hawkins (including last year’s NRL state championship game).
  • Star Redcliffe centre Izaia Perese has not been named for the Dolphins as he is on the reserves list for the Brisbane Broncos.

Rivals Seagulls and Dolphins to dig deep to stay in the race

By Jorja Brinums (QRL Media)

Long-time rivals Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Redcliffe Dolphins will fight to remain in the race to the Intrust Super Cup grand final on Sunday.

Wynnum finished third but lost to Burleigh Bears by only two points during the first week of finals and must step up to keep in the running.

The Dolphins finished sixth on the ladder but beat Tweed Seagulls last week, thanks to a Tyson Gamble field goal in the dying moments of the game, to earn their spot in the clash.

The two sides have faced off twice this season; Wynnum won the first clash 18-10 and Dolphins won the second 32-20.

Wynnum CEO Hanan Laban said for Wynnum, it was “the most important game for the club in almost five years and our entire community is buzzing”.

“A ‘do or die’ elimination final just takes one of the biggest and oldest rivalries in rugby league to another level,” Laban said.

“There have been many epic matches between us and I have no doubt that the Gulls will be up for this one  – the Chook Pen will be rocking!”

Wynnum skipper Mitch Cronin, who is a gun, said everyone was excited for Sunday’s game.

“It’s two of the biggest rivals in Intrust Super Cup going head-to-head, so there should be a big crowd and entertaining game,” Cronin said.

“Last week we started too slow and let the game get away from us, so we’ll be looking to fix that and make sure we start well.

“We still have the belief that we can go all the way… we just need to get ourselves right and make sure we’re at our best starting this Sunday.”

Dolphins football operations general manager Grant Cleal said the game at BMD Kougari Oval, in front of what is sure to be a boisterous Chook Pen, was sure to be a cracker.

“(The rivalry) is something that’s always there without talking about it,” Cleal said.

“The big overriding factor this week for both sides is the fact it could be the last game of the year and no one wants that.”

Redcliffe, the reigning premiers, experienced a tough start to the season, winning only three of their first 10 games. But Gamble re-joined the club before June 30 and helped turn their season around.

“Tyson Gamble has been a really big inclusion for us,” Cleal said.

“Tyson was a local junior here – he came through our development programs, so he wasn’t a stranger to the club, and that stigma of the other players thinking ‘who is this bloke coming in before June 30?’ – he didn’t have that. He was well known around the place before he came back.

“He’s added a lot of confidence to our squad and a lot of physical attributes go along with him as well – he’s got a really good kicking game and he’s a good organiser on the field as well. He’s been the main reason for our turn around.

“You’ve got to hand it to the rest of the players as well after the start they had. And the coaching staff, to keep working hard.”

Cleal said the team would dig deep for fan favourite and all-round nice guy Aaron Whitchurch, who will retire from the game at the end of this season.

“He’s the ultimate professional. He’s been studying a mathematics degree since he left school and he’s got two young daughters – a great little family,” Cleal said.

“In the time it takes to compete in this competition, I can’t imagine how he’s done it. The work load that has been involved for him over the last four of five years in particular, since he’s been doing uni – I can’t believe he’s still doing it.

“He finishes university at the end of this year, so he’s got to go and find a job. Then the workload goes up again for him, so something had to give at some point and it’s footy. That’s how it should be. He’s got to look after his family and his career. It’s a shame. He’s a big loss.

Cleal said he had no doubt Wynnum would also come out firing.

“We’re all in it to win it. Someone will miss out this weekend and it’ll be disappointing for that team. If that’s us, we’ll be heartbroken, so we want to make sure we do as much as we can to make sure we’re not heartbroken and we’re going on,” Cleal said.

“All the teams and all the clubs in our competition work really hard.

“Aaron Whitchurch is a really small cross section of the type of person that plays our game at this level. All working full time, all got families, and to some degree they’re probably working harder than NRL players. They’ve got more to juggle.

“This time of year is a really good reward for those guys. It’ll be a huge reward for a couple of teams to get to grand final day and we’re hoping we’re one of them.”

Burleigh win nail-biter against Wynnum Manly

By Kevin Braysher (QRL Media)

The Burleigh Bears won a classic Intrust Super Cup semi-final, 34-32, over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls at BMD Kougari Oval today.

In front of a packed house on a perfect Sunday afternoon, the Bears raced to a 22-6 lead and were forced to hold off the Seagulls who came back hard in the second half.

The Bears will now advance to a home preliminary final in two weeks, while Wynnum Manly will host an elimination blockbuster against Redcliffe next week.

Bears coach Jimmy Lenihan was extremely proud post game and praised his side’s ball control throughout a high-scoring game.

“It was one of those games where if you held the ball for big patches it was always going to be hard to hold out the other side,” Lenihan said.

“We still completed nine from nine in that second half, there were just big chunks of possession going against us. It was a high-scoring game, which is unusual for a final, so for us to hold on and defend our way through that was pleasing.

“For big parts of the year you play to hopefully stick to a process, but this time of year it’s all about a win or a loss and however we win or lose is the most important part now.

A large Wynnum crowd turned out to catch a glimpse of finals footy on the Bayside

“We’ll have a week off and then have another tough game and then hopefully one more tough game after that, so there is still a long way to go.”

Will Evans, playing his second Intrust Super Cup game, opened the scoring after some excellent lead up from Sami Sauiluma.

In the 11th minute the Bears extended their lead to 10-0 when Dylan Phythian ran the ball on the last tackle. He created some space for Kurtis Rowe who offloaded to Sauiluma to score the afternoon’s second try.

Wynnum hit back in the 16th minute, after Edene Gebbie took advantage of some broken play on the right side of the field, slicing through to score.

The home side were on the attack again four minutes later, but Anthony Don swooped in for an intercept and ran 90 metres to score for the Bears.

The Bears were riding a wave of early momentum and a try for Pat Politoni out of dummy half gave them a handy 16-point lead, before the Seagulls scored an important try right on halftime.

Mitch Cronin produced some lovely sleight of hand out of dummy half and put Max Elliot over, cutting the margin to just ten points at halftime.

The Seagulls came out fired up in the second half allowing plenty of room for Sam Scarlett to start taking control of the contest.

A Jayden Berrell try in the 45th minute was followed up by a try for Pat Templemen, bringing the scores level at 22-22 with 30 minutes left to play.

Burleigh were back in the lead in the 56th minute, when Josh Rogers put Matt Robinson through a hole then backed up to score under the posts.

Gebbie, who was electric throughout the contest, got early ball in the 62nd minute and stood up the Burleigh defence as he crossed for his second try to bring Wynnum within two points.

The crucial play came in the 69th minute, when Jamal Fogarty went to the line on the last tackle. He turned the ball inside for a charging Api Noema-Matenga who powered his way to the try line giving Burleigh an eight-point lead.

Scarlett would set up a try for Kalolo Saitaua in the 79th minute, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Bears secured a two-point win and a home preliminary final.

Earlier in the day Wynnum defeated Burleigh in a gripping Hastings Deering Colts final, 24-19.

Two of the best halfbacks face off in finals clash

By Kevin Braysher & Jorja Brinums (QRL Media)

The clash between Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Burleigh Bears Sunday is guaranteed to be a corker.

The two sides have been extremely impressive during the Intrust Super Cup season, finishing the regular season second and third on the ladder respectively.

The Bears beat the Seagulls the only time the two sides played this year, in Round 6, but will have their work cut out to do it again with the Seagulls earning the home semi-final at BMD Kougari Oval.

The Seagulls have have only lost one game at home this season, and that was to minor premiers Sunshine Coast Falcons.

One of the most exciting things about the game Sunday will be the match up between two of the best halfbacks in the game in Seagulls and XXXX Queensland Residents star Sam Scarlett and Bears gun Jamal Fogarty.

Seagulls half Sam Scarlett has been a major part of the Seagulls success in 2019

Bears coach Jim Lenihan said Scarlett was indeed impressive, but he had every confidence in Fogarty, who was “certainly in the top two or three that is vital for us”.

“(Sam) is a player who gets his hands on the ball a lot – he’s a major focus of their attack – and he and Edene Gebbie combine on that right-hand side of the football field a fair bit with their kicking and passing,” Lenihan said.

“He’s a big part of their attack and an indicator of where the ball is going and certainly someone we’ve got to be aware of. Where Sam Scarlett seems to go is often where the ball goes as well.”

But Lenihan said of Fogarty: “Not only is he a good athlete, but he is a good communicator and organiser of the football side with a really good kicking game.”

Jamal Fogarty in action for the Bears

“It’s not only what he does for us with his individual skill, but when he’s in the team he makes everybody else in the team better with his organisation. He’s a player that makes other players better,” Lenihan said.

Lenihan said this year he had worked hard with Fogarty on his defence and with choosing the right types of kicks at the right times.

“I think his defence has really gone to another level this year,” Lenihan said.

“He had some room for improvement in his defence, but this year he’s got the confidence and physically – he’s tackling the big back rowers that run at him all the time and he certainly gets spotted every game. His defence I think has really given him that extra confidence and I think on the back of him kicking well and defending well, the other parts of his game, like his attack and his organisation, have come on really well.

“We’ve looked at getting him to run the ball a bit more this year as well. We’re playing a style that encourages him to run the ball a lot more. He’s a very selfless player and he’s always looking to pass it, but sometimes some of our tries are set up two or three plays before with him making a 15-metre carry and getting a quick play-the-ball and then, off that momentum created, it gives other people in the side the opportunity to take advantage of that.

“He’s been one of those players this year that has been a bit of a standout for us.

“Every side every week is putting a lot of pressure on him and targeting him, but he’s standing up to that and the more he just keeps doing what he started out the year with – defending well and kicking well – I think that’s the foundation for us having a good back end of the year.”

Seagulls skipper Mitch Cronin said both halves were very impressive.

“Both halves have been in really good form for their teams all year so it’s probably the match up of the round,Cronin said.

“I’ve played with Jamal before and like Sam he’s very good organiser and has a strong kicking game. He likes to play on the ball and is their go to for majority of the game, so if we can put some pressure on him it will go a long way to winning.

“Sam has been unreal for us all year, not only his attack but his leadership and for a small bloke his defence has been outstanding.”

Cronin, as the Seagulls prepare to play finals for the first time since 2015, told Wynnum Herald playing at home was a bigger advantage for the Seagulls than any other team in the competition.

“Getting a home semi is massive for us, we’ve only lost one game at home all year and that’s because the fans really get behind us,” Cronin said.

“Finishing second on the ladder has given us a lot of confidence that we can now push for a premiership.”

 

Seagulls to host special Finals Lunch

Seagulls Media 

The BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls will officially welcome the return of finals football to BMD Kougari Oval with a special luncheon hosted prior to the opening whistle.

Wynnum Manly (2nd) go head to head with Burleigh (3rd) in a Qualifying Final to determine who will progress to the Preliminary Final, the last step in the road toward a Grand Final birth.

From 11:30am, Seagulls supporters and sponsors will be treated a buffet lunch as well gaining an exclusive insight to the game which kicks off at 2:00pm.

Head Coach Adam Brideson will share his final words prior to kick off with guests, whilst a Seagulls panel of past legends share their thoughts on the highly anticipated match up.

Tickets are almost sold out – book online to secure your seat.

Ticket include: 

  • Sit down buffet including Roasted Chicken, BBQ Brisket, scrumptious sides and dessert platters
  • Beverage on arrival
  • Entry / Access to the Skyview Balcony and Viewing Room
  • Hear from the Seagulls Legends panel
  • Inside word from Head Coach Adam Brideson prior to the game

Cost: $55 per person / $500 table of 10

Click here to book your spot