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Burleigh Bears 2018

Ex-Titans coach plots Bears fall

FORMER Gold Coast assistant coach Rohan Smith is out to orchestrate Titans feeder club Burleigh’s first defeat of the Intrust Super Cup season tonight.

After 18 months as Neil Henry’s assistant, Smith scored a head coaching opportunity with English side Bradford before making his way back to Queensland to coach Norths.

“That (Bradford) was always a job that I envisaged myself having a crack at if it ever came up and it did, but obviously the club had a fair amount of financial trouble that I wasn’t totally aware of before I went over there,” Smith said.

“My time at the Titans gave me good experience and put me in good stead for that role over there.”

Smith’s Devils, who are searching for their first finals appearance since 2012, tonight host Burleigh – whose consistency he hailed – at Bishop Park from 5.30pm in a top of the ladder blockbuster.

A continuation of Norths’ early season form could go a long way for Smith’s career progression.

“It’s been my dream since I was 16 years old to be a coach of an NRL team,” he said.

http://www.gcbulletin.com.au
 
Coster’s shining among big names

UNHERALDED Burleigh lock Sam Coster is giving coach Jimmy Lenihan no option but to keep giving him game time despite the abundance of big names around him.

Coster’s sensational 222m running effort was pivotal to the Bears’ 28-20 win over Central Queensland last weekend and justified Lenihan’s faith in the former Illawarra Cutters player.

The 24-year-old played 52 minutes in the victory, more than high-profile bench forwards Matt White, Jai Whitbread and Joe Greenwood – the last two are Titans contracted players. Former NRL second-rower Matt Robinson missed the cut altogether in a show of depth.

“Jimmy sort of said it doesn’t matter where you come from, it’s just purely on how you’re playing and how your form is as to who gets the nod for minutes,” Coster said of the intense competition for spots.

Coster believes today’s top of the table clash with Norths will be their biggest test yet.

Tweed Heads Seagulls will be striving for their first victory of the year when they face Wynnum Manly at Kougari Oval today from 7pm.

http://www.gcbulletin.com.au
 
Norths Devils v Burleigh Bears
http://www.qrl.com.au

Bishop Park on Saturday, April 14 – 5.30pm
Head-to-Head: Burleigh 24 Norths 19
Twitter: #intrustsupercup #DEVILSvBEARS
Livestream: Bears TV

This will arguably be the game of the round with the undefeated Burleigh Bears traveling to face Norths, who have only dropped one game so far this year.

Burleigh however has lost a key performer for their side, with Kurtis Rowe set to be sidelined for at least a month after fracturing his eye socket his side’s close win over the Capras in Gladstone last weekend.

The Bears won last year at Bishop Park, but Norths have won the previous six games played there against Burleigh.

Norths have won their past three home games, while the Bears have won five of their past six away games.

Devils pair Michael Sio (pictured above) and Sam Tagataese have been impressive early on this season and are part of a leading pack so far in this year’s Courier Mail Medal race.
There will be half-centuries all-round for the Bears with three players notching milestones. Josh Ailaomai (all Burleigh), 50th Cup game: Sami Sauiluma (51st game overall for Burleigh, including his Intrust Super Championship appearance in 2016) and 50th Cup game for Matthew White (previously with Ipswich, Tweed Heads and Easts Tigers).
 
Devils win top of table clash with wounded Bears
https://www.qrl.com.au/

Norths shot a warning across the Intrust Super Cup tonight when they outplayed Burleigh Bears in a top-of-the-table showdown at Bishop Park.

The Devils’ 20-4 win came after they weathered six consecutive penalties against them – including three in front of their posts – while trailing the unbeaten Bears in the first half.

The Devils’ excellent defence and mistakes and injuries for the Bears turned the game.

Halfback Jamal Fogarty was again missing for the Bears with an ankle injury suffered in Round 4 and he was joined on the sidelines by Jamie Dowling, Kurtis Rowe and Blake Leary who were all ruled out during the week.

The casualty ward was even more crowded by fulltime as both Dallas Wells (hamstring) and Jai Whitbread (HIA) failed to finish the game with fresh injury concerns.

However, that did not excuse their ball handling and the Devils were able to build a 6-4 halftime lead into an impressive win as their new halves combination Todd Murphy and Troy Dargan took advantage of their forwards’ grit.

The win stamped the rebuilt Devils as an emerging team under new coach Rohan Smith who has brought together an overhauled team that is still forming its combinations. Some wobbling attacking sets were a sign that Norths have a long way to go despite the early wins.

“There is a long way to go for us because it’s only early in the season but we toughed it out tonight particularly when we had some penalties go against us,” Smith said.

“It was one of those nights when we had to stay calm to win that game. We bombed a try and it wasn’t always pretty but we managed to overcome an early deficit and win.”

Burleigh opened the scoring in the third minute when winger Brenko Lee crossed in the left corner. But the visitors didn’t score another point.

Bears five-eighth Wells was injured mid-way through the first half and took no further part in the game, adding to an injury count that has affected the Bears despite their slick start to the season.

“I was proud of our guys. We hung in there given that we gave them as much ball as we did and they scored three tries from kicks,” Bears coach Jimmy Lenihan said.

“We certainly didn’t play well but our effort never lacked.”

The Devils took until the 35th minute to score their first points when prop Oshae Tuiasau pounced on a kick from Dargan close to the line.

Norths finished strongly in the second half, edging to 12-4 when interchange prop Iain Riccardi scored his first try for the Devils from a dummy-half kick by Calum Gahan.

Fullback Jack Ahearn was rewarded for his persistence in attack when he crossed in the 64th minute and a 72nd minute penalty goal by Murphy added to the scoreline.

The Devils lost the penalty count 11-8 including the six consecutive penalties between the 18th and 29th minutes when they were forced to defend their line.

Norths faces another test next weekend with a clash against the Blackhawks in Townsville while the Bears travel to BMD Kougari Oval to play Wynnum Manly in the Channel 9 (QLD) TV game on Saturday afternoon, while Burleigh are off to Townsville next week to take on the Blackhawks.

See the full scoring details and final team line-ups for this game at QRL Live

NORTHS DEVILS 20 (Oshae Tuiasau, Iain Riccardi, Jack Ahearn tries; Todd Murphy 4 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 4 (Brenko Lee try) at Bishop Park.
 
Speedy Toby gets his chance to race
http://www.goldcoast.com.au

ALMOST 18 months after being plucked from the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League, Toby McIntosh will today run out for his Intrust Super Cup debut.

The 22-year-old has been named at fullback for Burleigh after first-choice No.1s Kurtis Rowe and Henare Wells sustained injuries.
McIntosh signed with the Bears soon after helping the Murwillumbah Mustangs to the 2016 NRRRL premiership.
Along the way, he was crowned the competition’s player of the year.

The Matt Dunn Racing stable foreman was forced to work for his dream shot at the state league though, biding his time in the Rugby League Gold Coast A-grade competition for all of last season.

McIntosh scored 21 tries in 19 games to help the Bears win the local title and showed off his strike power by putting Currumbin to the sword with a five-try haul.

But his time is now: Round 7 against Wynnum Manly in the round’s televised fixture at Kougari Oval.
Lenihan said McIntosh had blossomed into a player ready to thrive at ISC level.

“He is a definite fullback, a runner of the ball, very quick,” Lenihan said. “There’s no doubt he had some ability and then last year was the year that he just learnt a little bit more about the next level of footy up.

“He has got a lot of natural skill and ability, it’s just more the talking and some of the things that we’re trying to put in place here for that next step up in Queensland Cup and I think he has certainly done that.

“He gets an opportunity with all of the people that have been injured and I’m really happy for him.”

McIntosh forms part of an inexperienced Bears spine – outside of hooker Pat Politoni – with Josh Rogers and Chris Law stepping into the halves for injured lead playmakers Jamal Fogarty and Dallas Wells.

Down at Piggabeen Sports Complex, Tweed Heads will tomorrow be out to back up their breakthrough last-start win over Wynnum.
The clash with Easts will be Paul Stephenson’s first home match in charge as Seagulls chief executive.

A former NRL player for Manly and Cronulla, Stephenson finished his playing career at Tweed in 2014 and immediately fell in love with the club’s culture and history.

“I have played at a lot of different clubs … but I am so proud to have played for Seagulls with their history and I think as CEO it is my job to give the players an understanding of that history as well,” he said.
 
Bears out to rectify midgame switch-off
http://www.gcbulletin.com.au

BURLEIGH rake Pat Politoni has called on the team’s interchange players to lift as the Intrust Super Cup ladder-leaders look to rectify the one major flaw of their campaign to date.

The Bears have dominated the opening two months to sit clear on top of the table ahead of their Round 9 match against Townsville at Jack Manski Oval tonight.

However, they have made life hard for themselves at times this season with a regular lull either side of halftime allowing opposition sides back into the contest.

That trend was exposed for all to see last Sunday when Papua New Guinea scored tries in the 31st, 39th and 43rd minutes to put Burleigh in real danger at 18-12 down before a late charge got them home.

“We are doing really good starts but there’s always that lapse towards halftime and the beginning of the second half where we let other teams in,” Politoni said.

“It’s something that we have really talked about with Jimmy (Lenihan, coach) and have tried to work on it.

“When our big guys come off like Whitey (Matt White) and Pagey (Luke Page), we need guys that are on the bench to come on with the same intensity and really lift and take their role seriously.

“But we’re 7-1, we can’t complain. We’re really happy with our start, we have just got to keep kicking on.”

Politoni has been showing every ounce of class that got him 16 NRL games and three Tests for Tonga, amassing impressive stats.

The 27-year-old leads the competition in try assists (eight) and line break assists (seven), and is second in tackles made (274).
 
Bears utility departs for NRL shot

BURLEIGH’S “Mr Fix It” Dylan Kelly has played his last game for the Intrust Super Cup club after agreeing to join Manly feeder side Blacktown effective immediately.

The 25-year-old, who had spent time in the Sea Eagles system before joining Burleigh last year, heads south with ambitions of forcing his way into their NRL squad.

“Hopefully a couple of good performances and a good end to the year will push me into that side,” Kelly said.

“It is hard to leave Burleigh but there is a little opportunity I want to have a crack at and see if it turns into a big one.”

Kelly is 101kg but has often been in the Bears’ front-row – though his last game for the club came at five-eighth seven days ago against Townsville.

“He’s not going to be easy to replace,” said Burleigh coach Jimmy Lenihan.

“I think the only position he didn’t play for us this year so far was wing and hooker. But at the end of the day that’s where we are in the world, blokes are still trying to get an opportunity to go into the NRL and I think Scott Fulton was the one that did his contract so it appeared he may be able to get in the back door at Manly if he goes to Blacktown immediately.

“I’m not going to stop anyone from getting an opportunity.”

Competition leaders Burleigh have a Round 10 bye.

http://www.goldcoast.com.au
 
Burleigh Bears v Easts Tigers
Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday, May 19 – 12.40pm
Head-to-Head: Burleigh 23 Easts 20 Drawn 2
Twitter: #intrustsupercup #BEARSvTIGES

Livestream: BEARS TV

  • The Bears and the Tigers kick off Round 11 early on Saturday afternoon, playing as the curtain raiser to the Gold Coast Titans v Newcastle Knights game.
  • There is a big ‘in’ for the Bears this week, with Jamal Fogarty named in the halves.
  • The Tigers have named a strong team for this match against the top-of-the-table Bears, but will need to learn from their close Round 9 loss to the Magpies and start the game well.
  • Brenko Lee, who spent the early part of the season with the Bears was named earlier in the week to play in his second game for the Titans, with Henare Wells named in the left centre position for the home side.
  • The is only one previous instance of these two teams playing at a game at a venue that is not Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park or Pizzey Park and it is the 2004 grand final which Burleigh won 22-18 in an extra time epic.
 
Burleigh Bears lose to Sunshine Coast Falcons; Tweed Heads Seagulls beat Norths Devils
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport

BURLEIGH are far from a state of panic despite losing consecutive matches for the first time this year in a mini slump that has cost them the Intrust Super Cup lead.

The Bears trailed from the sixth minute at Pizzey Park yesterday as Sunshine Coast took a much-needed 16-4 victory.

That result combined with Townsville sneaking home against Mackay has allowed the Blackhawks to leapfrog the Bears.

Burleigh coach Jimmy Lenihan was philosophical post-game, with one of their two tries conceded being a long-range intercept.

“I thought our effort was pretty good,” Lenihan said.

“It was pretty much a defensive day. We had big periods where we were defending our line for long parts and we did that well.

“We were probably just a little bit clunky with our attack.

“We will probably lose more games before the end of the year. At the moment it is a very tight, tough competition so we just have to keep working on things and keep trying to get things better as we go along in the season.”

Hayden Schwass was named players’ player.

Four Bears will feature in the upcoming representative round action: Luke Page for Papua New Guinea and Pat Politoni, Jamal Fogarty and Blake Leary for the Queensland Residents.

Meanwhile, Tweed Heads moved inside the ISC top six for the first time since Round 1 of the 2016 season by pipping Norths 28-24 in an entertaining encounter.

Titans-contracted forwards Ryan Simpkins and Bryce Cartwright shared players’ player for the Seagulls, with the latter’s effort a perfect response to being dropped from the NRL.

Cartwright looked at home in his preferred right second-row position – which has been blocked at Titans level by Kevin Proctor – frequently causing the Devils’ defensive line trouble.

“He has got that good right-hand offload which probably suited where we played him. He was a real handful when he carried the ball,” said Seagulls coach Ben Woolf.
 
Bears brush aside losses
http://www.gcbulletin.com.au

BURLEIGH are far from being in a state of panic despite losing consecutive matches for the first time this year in a mini slump that has cost them the Intrust Super Cup lead.

The Bears trailed from the sixth minute at Pizzey Park yesterday as Sunshine Coast had a much-needed 16-4 win.

That result combined with Townsville sneaking home against Mackay has allowed the Blackhawks to leapfrog the Bears.

Burleigh coach Jimmy Lenihan was philosophical postgame, with one of their two tries conceded being a longrange intercept.

“I thought our effort was pretty good,” Lenihan said.

“It was pretty much a defensive day. We had big periods where we were defending our line for long parts and we did that well.

“We were probably just a little bit clunky with our attack.

“We will probably lose more games before the end of the year. It is a very tight, tough competition so we just have to keep working on things and keep trying to get things better as we go along in the season.”

Hayden Schwass was named the players’ player.

Four Bears will feature in the upcoming representative round action: Luke Page for Papua New Guinea and Pat Politoni, Jamal Fogarty and Blake Leary for the Queensland Residents.

Meanwhile, Tweed Heads moved inside the ISC top six for the first time since Round 1 of the 2016 season by pipping Norths 28-24 in an entertaining encounter.

Titans-contracted forwards Ryan Simpkins and Bryce Cartwright shared players’ player for the Seagulls, with the latter’s effort a perfect response to being dropped from the NRL.

Cartwright looked at home in his preferred right secondrow position – which has been blocked at Titans level by Kevin Proctor – frequently causing the Devils’ defensive line trouble.

“He has got that good righthand offload which probably suited where we played him,” said Seagulls coach Ben Woolf.

“He was a real handful when he carried the ball.”
 
Bears ousted from top spot after Falcons loss
https://www.qrl.com.au/

The Sunshine Coast Falcons have ousted the Burleigh Bears from top spot in the Intrust Super Cup with a hard-earned 16-4 win.

The Falcons needed a win to stay in touch with a congested top eight and, for the third week in a row, produced a narrow, grinding victory against strong opposition.

Sunshine Coast played smart, controlled football and showed terrific application in defence, especially on their own tryline.

Three consecutive wins have seen them shoot up to seventh spot on the ladder, while back-to-back losses sees Burleigh drop to second place, with the Townsville Blackhawks assuming top spot on for-and-against.

The Bears looked the most likely to score first with a promising raid in the sixth minute, but the final pass was plucked by Falcons winger Iliesa Ratuva who ran 90 metres to score.

From there, Sunshine Coast took control thanks to the collective good work of their big men, with hooker Harry Grant doing an outstanding job of directing traffic.

Ryan Papenhuyzen extended the lead to eight points with a 25th minute penalty goal, before PNG international Justin Olam powered his way to the tryline and gave the Falcons a commanding 14-0 lead.

Burleigh needed halftime to regroup but found a spark in the 38th minute when brothers Dallas and Henare Wells combined to put Tyronne Roberts-Davis away down the sideline.

That brought the score line to 14-4 and an arm wrestle ensued in the second half as the Bears tried desperately to cut the margin back, only for the Falcons to repel Burleigh raids again and again.

The Bears sent repeated attacks down their left, but the defence of Ratuva and Sander Earl - playing just his second rugby league game since 2013 - was up to the task.

Another Papenhuyzen penalty goal with 10 minutes to go extended the lead to 12, as the Falcons ran down the clock and posted an important win.

The Intrust Super Cup will break next weekend for representative round.

Four Bears will be in action, with Pat Politoni, Blake Leary and Jamal Fogarty all selected to play for the Queensland Residents in the curtain raiser to State of Origin 2 on Sunday, while Luke Page will represent the PNG Kumuls in Saturday afternoon's Test match against Fiji.

Bears quartet Tazmin Gray, Tallisha Harden, Rona Peters and Zahara Temara will also be on show during representative weekend, competing for Queensland in the Women's State of Origin game on Friday night.

Full scoring details and final team lists available on QRL Live.

SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS 16 (I Rutuva, J Olam tries R Papenhuyzen 4 goals) def BURLEIGH BEARS 4 (T Roberts-Davis try) at Pizzey Park.
 
Titans players to go head-to-head in Burleigh Bears and Tweed Heads Seagulls clash
https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au

IT will all be on the line when up to eight Titans players take part in the traditionally fierce Burleigh versus Tweed Heads Intrust Super Cup derby at Pizzey Park on Sunday.

With the rare scenario of both the Bears and Seagulls being firmly in the race for finals footy, there’ll be much more than just bragging rights up for grabs.

Burleigh are the 2016 premiers who have led for much of the year until hitting a mid-year rough patch consisting of two straight losses and a wave of injuries.

Tweed on the other hand enter the eagerly anticipated clash full of momentum on the back of eight wins from their past nine starts.

Front-row: Burleigh’s Tyronne Roberts-Davis and Dallas Wells. Back-row: Tweed’s Ryan Simpkins, Kane Elgey, Leilani Latu, Kiah Cooper and Brendan Elliot. Picture: Gold Coast Titans
They too have had a couple of forced changes for Round 16, however, with Bryce Cartwright’s broken hand on Thursday throwing a spanner into the works.

With Morgan Boyle (Burleigh) expected to join the action, it leaves a likely scenario of three Titans in the Bears’ ranks against five in the Tweed line up.

Five-eighth Dallas Wells, who earned a Gold Coast development contract after joining Burleigh midway through last year, is looking forward to going head-to-head with the blokes he is often sharing the same training paddock with.

“It will be good playing against each other. All of these Titans players know each other’s strengths,” he said.

“There has been a little bit of sledging but it’s all friendly.”

As a regular Bear, Wells knows how much the rivalry means to both clubs. Burleigh have won the past five clashes between the sides, dating back to Tweed’s 50-4 victory in 2015.

“Obviously it is rivalry round here,” said Wells, who will have extra responsibility following an ankle injury to halves partner Jamal Fogarty.

“We have got Pagey (Luke Page), Matt White, Pat Politoni … we have got just as much experience as the Tweed boys do with the boys coming back from Titans so it is going to be a good clash.”
 
Burleigh Bears regain Intrust Super Cup lead after defeating Tweed Heads Seagulls
http://www.gcbulletin.com.au

TWEED Heads have missed a golden opportunity to gain the upper hand in the Intrust Super Cup’s Gold Coast derby after blowing a lead against a defiant Burleigh outfit.

The Seagulls were in complete control at Pizzey Park on Sunday, holding a 16-0 lead before a seemingly regulation Sam Coster hit-up just before halftime sparked a run of six unanswered tries for the hosts.

Coster took the ball from 10m out but squeezed between defenders to score a soft try and that was backed up two minutes later by a four-pointer to Bears pivot Dallas Wells to shoot down Tweed’s confidence.

Burleigh went on to post a 34-16 victory to jump back to the top of the ladder.

“If they were the better team on the day, you would probably walk away copping it a bit better but I just don’t know if that was necessarily the case,” said disappointed Seagulls coach Ben Woolf, who called on his players to be more ruthless.

“I thought we showed early that we had enough to win the game.

“If we win that game, we’re one win off (second place); instead we’re now out of the six. We’ve got poor for-and-against anyway so I think we are going to have win an extra game compared to everyone else to make the finals.

“We need to bounce back, otherwise it can slip away from you very quickly.”

For injury-hit Burleigh, the result snapped a two-game losing streak and maintained their perfect record against Tweed since 2015.

Their depth may yet be further tested though, with initial fears Wells may have suffered a broken leg after being involved in a nasty collision with the goalpost while scoring. However, coach Jimmy Lenihan said on Sunday night that Wells is believed to have escaped without a fracture.

Rookie forward Jesse Savage was also helped from the field after an alleged crusher tackle.

“I don’t think there’s any problems with his spine but he certainly is very stiff and sore at the moment,” Lenihan said of Savage.

Lenihan put the Bears’ revival down to improved discipline and reverting to the basics.

Kai O’Donnell enjoyed a strong debut for the Bears while second-rower Matt Robinson was branded “brilliant” by his coach.
 
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