Round Eight
North Beach Sea Eagles 42 – Willagee Bears 30
North Beach coach Phil Douché was full of praise for his opponents after his Sea Eagles had defeated the Willagee Bears 42-30 in round eight of the NRLWA Fuel to Go and Play Premiership on Saturday.
The six tries to five scoreline showed how close the game was as both sides, minus several State players, put on a show to be proud of.
“We started well but they out-enthused us for long periods,” Douché said.
“Our energy levels dropped and once they scored they really fired up and gave us a game.”
Backrower Kallum Gulliver Brown and winger Te Ra Hare Ahuriri had given the defending premiers a 12-0 lead before the Bears responded through John Leota on 20 minutes and winger Paul Rakatau-Wiperi.
Justin Buckley scored, to help beach secure the win / Photo – Total Sports Photography
Nare Grant came off the bench to give the visitors a halftime lead and added further scores through Tom Fifita, twice, before, according to coach Nelson Davis, they hit the self-destruct button.
“Just poor discipline really,” Davis said. “We stretched the lead to 30-14 and then it all went wrong.”
“And game management. We defended four sets on our line earlier but we went away from what we had been working on and lost.
“When fatigue kicked in at the end it was over.”
North Beach, after that mid-game slump, found new energy, scored back-to-back tries through Ahiriri and Justin Buckley before finishing the game with more points as veteran Tyrone Cranstone and new boy Jake Parkes sealed the win.
“We got the points but we had to work for them,” Douché said.
“I have to credit Willagee, they had some outside backs who worked hard and they will be contenders come finals time.”
Michael Fotu running it back for the Willagee Bears / Photo – Carmel Potter-Green