Round Three
Willagee Bears 28 – North Beach Sea Eagles 34
By PETER ROWE
The Fuel to Go and Play game of the round did not disappoint on Saturday afternoon as premiers North Beach stayed unbeaten with a solid 34-28 win over the Willagee Bears, but they were made to fight for the points in a game that went down to wire.
A Bailey Millar hat-trick was the highlight for the Sea Eagles – his third try the difference between the two sides – but the Bears put on a late show to send a message to the rest of the competition that they will be in the mix come finals time.
“It was a great advert for rugby league,” Bears coach Nelson Davis said.
“An outstanding effort from my boys, unfortunately we didn’t take the points.”
Davis singled out back rower Jo Tanonef as one of his best. “His tackle count and work rate was phenomenal,” he said.
“ And our big No.8 Emmanuel Maliko made some holes in their defence.”
Old head Shai Wiperi brought some stability to the side, Davis said.
“The balance we need with our younger guys, he certainly helps keep them grounded.”
But at the end of the day it wasn’t a win, although Davis took a lot of positives from the game.
“We let in a couple of soft tries – our mistakes – so we will work on that,” he said.
“We had a lot of punch through the middle, which was great to see and we are an exciting team to watch.
“I have to manage that – balancing the structure of the game and their desire to express themselves.”
The Bears opened the scoring through centre Saimoni Qaranivalu after 10 minutes before dangerous hooker Kobi Aesi levelled.
Veteran winger Robbie Smith found space out on the left edge to score again for the Bears but another veteran, Jeremy Wallace, showed his class to level the game.
Millar then produced two outstanding efforts to extend the visitors’ lead as the Sea Eagles went into the break with a 14-point lead.
But this Bears team won’t give up and Qaranivalu got them back into the contest, driving through a big hole in the Beach defensive line to reduce the margin to eight.
Brad Sparrow, who was praised by coach Phil Douche, also saw a hole in the Willagee defensive line to cross before Millar added his third.
Douche though, while happy with the points, wasn’t pleased with the performance.
“Fair play to Willagee, who nearly took it at the end, but we were disappointed overall,” he said.
“It’s probably better to be ultra-critical of a win than when you lose, but there’s still plenty of work to be done.
“We started poorly and coughed up possession before we found our rhythm and got back to the game plan. Brad and Bailey had solid games – and all credit to the Bears for their performance, their right edge was very good.”
