Match report brought to you by George Hartnett Metropolitan Funerals
BMD Wynnum Manly Seagulls welcomes the Brisbane Broncos to BMD Kougari Oval on Saturday for our annual trial match.
A capacity crowd of 5000 people rolled through the gates to support the Seagulls in our first hitout for 2024, and to see the next crop of Broncos superstars take the field.
The weather couldn’t deter any supporters as the ground filled up during our junior curtain-raiser games.
Earlier in the day, Round 1 kicked off for our McDonalds Seagulls Academy teams, as our Harvey Norman U17 and U19 Women, Cyril Connell Cup and Mal Meninga Cup teams took to the field against Tweed Seagulls.
Come 4pm, you’d have a better chance of winning the lotto than finding a spare seat inside Kougari.
The Seagulls started the better of the two teams to shoot out to a 10-0 lead and shock the Broncos. Wingers Jon Reuben and Sione Hopoate both crossed the line for the Gulls.
Playing 3 x 25 minute thirds for this trial match, the Seagulls went to the first break in front after dominating field position in the opening stanza.
Wynnum Manly kept up with the speed of the Broncos game throughout the second period. However, the injection of Sailor and Willison in particular, saw the Broncos fight back to be down 10-8 at the second break.
Josh Stuckey scored for the Seagulls in front of the mighty Chook Pen to extend our lead to 16-8 with 18 minutes remaining.
Tristan Sailor then showed his class to have a hand in three late tries for the Broncos, as the visitors ran away to win 26-16.
Brisbane Broncos 26 (Tries: Trew, Karapani, Quai-Ward, Toia, Sailor. Goals: Black 3) defeated Wynnum Manly Seagulls 16 (Tries: Reuben, Hopoate, Stuckey. Goals: Donovan 2) at BMD Kougari Oval. First Break: 10-0 Wynnum; Second Break: 10-8 Wynnum. Final score 26-16 Broncos. Crowd: 5,000