THE future looks bright for the Wynnum-Manly Seagulls, with a Grand Final win in the Cyril Connell Cup last weekend.
The young Gulls, coached by Paul Boase, completed a superb season in the underage competition, defeating Norths in the Grand Final at Kayo Stadium on Saturday.
A few hours later, their Under-19 colleagues also stayed firmly in the finals race for the Mal Meninga Cup title with a big win over the Blackhawks in Townsville.
The two wins showcased the hard work done behind the scenes by the Wynnum-Manly Academy coaches, which have delivered excellent results in recent seasons in the male and female programs.
It was a more challenging scenario for the Seagulls in the Hostplus Cup, taking on a Cowboys-infused Blackhawks line-up at Jack Minski Oval in Townsville in a rare twilight match.
Wynnum lost 26-12, ending a two-game streak of past wins in Townsville, with some improved fluency in attack hinting at better things soon, with a competitive first half showing.
However, a 10-6 scoreline at half-time in favour of the home team was quickly extended in the second half, as the Blackhawks pounced on errors to extend the score to 26-6 at one point before a late rally from the Seagulls.
Broncos-affiliated forward Jaiyden Hunt topped the tackle count with 38, while prop Josh Couric led the metres gained count with 128m.
The Seagulls will take on the Tigers on Saturday from 4pm in round six of the Hostplus Cup at the Langlands Park home ground of their eastern suburbs’ rivals.
Wynnum’s Cyril Connell Cup championship line-up was again inspired by Broncos-contracted halfback Calvin Haris-Tavita, with the New Zealander scoring two tries and setting up a third in another imposing display.
In a strongly competitive first half, Wynnum held the upper hand 12-10 at the break, with the Devils kicking a penalty to lock the scores up with 15 minutes remaining.
The Seagulls held off some desperate Norths attack and finally cracked their opposition to score back-to-back tries as they ran out winners 26-16.
Rawboned prop Tyce Perren produced a mighty effort in attack and defence to be awarded player of the match honours, while fullback Samson Pereira, centre Billo Wotton and five-eighth Maihi Pene also scored tries.
Pene confirmed the result with a classy solo effort to ensure the trophy would head back to BMD Kougari Oval.
In the Mal Meninga Cup, Wynnum sit a point clear of the Cutters on top of the ladder and take on the Tigers in their final round clash on Saturday.
The finals will be held next weekend.
In the BRL A Grade competition, Wynnum-Manly lost 18-12 to the Valley Diehards.
