Our Hostplus Cup team made the trip to Redcliffe to play the Dolphins in Round 3 on Saturday. Playing our traditional rival in XXXX Rivalry Round, and coming off a great Round 2 win against Burleigh, there was strong expectation that this would be a big game for both clubs.
Wynnum Manly opened the scoring in the 3rd minute as Sione Hopoate scored in the corner to give the Seagulls the dream start.
The next 10 minutes were a mix of strong defensive efforts and handling errors from both teams.
Redcliffe then scored in the 15th minute to go in front and unfortunately for the Seagulls, the momentum remained in their corner for the next 40 minutes.
A steady run of 6 tries to the Dolphins were compounded by many penalties that kept the Seagulls stuck in their own half.
At 36-4 down, Luke Gale got one back for the Seagulls. And the Ron Philitoga scored in the 69th minute to bring the score to 36-16 and provide a glimmer of hope for the remaining 10 minutes.
However, the score remained at 36-16, leaving Wynnum Manly with work to do ahead of the next game.
The NRL match between the Dolphins and Wests Tigers followed our game, giving our players greater exposure and a bigger crowd than would normally watch Hostplus Cup games at Redcliffe.
Our McDonalds Seagulls Academy teams then travelled to the Dolphins on Sunday to play across 4 matches.
Redcliffe were too strong in the Harvey Norman U17 (42-4), Harvey Norman U19 (20-8) and Mal Meninga Cup (48-0) competitions. Our Cyril Connell Cup had a great win 42-10 though, and remain in 1st place on the ladder after an impressive season.
Round 4 is a bye this weekend, before we welcome the Souths Logan Magpies to BMD Kougari Oval on Sunday the 6th of April to play for the Mitch Cronin Cup.