In their previous two encounters, Eastwood and North Queensland had managed to produce two thrillers. Whilst Eastwood got up 11-6 and 34-28 in the previous two clashes, finals football makes virgins of us all- and past encounters went out the window as the two sides took to the field. While Eastwood welcomed back Jason Smith and David Furner to their pack, the Dolphins welcomed back prolific point-scorer Linden Drummond.
Eastwood Pumas North Queensland Dolphins
1 Rowland Rokachelli 1 Kris Radlinski
2 Sam Murphy 2 Linden Drummond
3 Kevin McGuinness 3 Greg Wolfgramm
4 Francis Maloney 4 Brooke Martin
5 Tom O'Shea 5 Alwyn Simpson
6 Cedric Desbrosse 6 Adam Dykes
7 Rob Burrow 7 Justin Marshall
8 David Furner 8 Forrest Sumner
9 Jason Smith 9 Raif McCallin
10 Xander Travis © 10 Caesar Ramirez
11 Matt Adamson 11 Giovanni Piazza
12 Daniel Vickerman 12 Colin Charvis ©
13 Aurelion Cologni 13 Brian O'Keefe
++Interchange
14 Damien Doust 14 Ben Black
15 Jason King 15 Bilal Najjarin
16 Dean Treister 16 Gabrielle Yane
17 Phil Morwood 17 Danny Arnold
Both sides began the game tentatively, but showed none of the jittery nerves that had made the Tamworth City vs. Penrith clash such a slow start. While Eastwood did begin play with the better of the game, it wasn’t any fault of North Queensland’s. Indeed, Jason Smith was in rare form as he reveled in his first final’s appearance since playing in Central’s losing side in the 2002/2003 grand final.
First points came to Eastwood in the form of a Rob Burrow penalty only five minutes into the game, but the 2-0 scoreline didn’t last long. Linden Drummond added two points of his own only six minutes later after the Pumas were spotted for being inside the ten. The game settled down after the two penalties, but neither side could mount any pressure on the opposing line for some time. Indeed, the first real raid of the match didn’t come until the 22nd minute when the visitors looked to have scored through makeshift hooker Raif McCallin. However, the utility forward was ruled to have dropped the ball over the whitewash thanks to the attentions of Xander Travis and Matt Adamson.
There was no denying McCallin in the 30th however, the hooker backing up a powerful Linden Drummond line break and bringing it around under the posts to put his side ahead 8-2. The try completed a period of end to end football from both sides, with both backlines able to find holes in the opposing line. As halftime drew closer, the Pumas tried desperately to find some points- but their effort manifested itself in the form of stupid handling errors. The Dolphins were also guilty of pushing too many passes, and the halftime score ended up at 8-2.
HALFTIME: Eastwood 2 trail North Queensland 8
The second half couldn’t have started off better for Eastwood, veteran second rower Matt Adamson crashing over after only two minutes of play. Adamson made it really easy for Burrow, who wasted no time in knocking over the conversion to level the scores at 8 all.
The fans on hand were treated to some really intense finals football over the next ten minutes, both sides chancing their arm in some daring attacking raids. Linden Drummond’s return from injury proved to be the ace in North Queensland’s hand, but Matt Adamson was backing up his early second half try with some powerful running and inspirational defence. Neither side was as skillful as fans had come to expect, but the game certainly didn’t lack in excitement.
It took some powerful defence from the Dolphins to turn the game on its head, a dominant defensive set limited Eastwood to just sixteen metres. The Pumas compounded the error by kicking the pill out on the full, and the Dolphins were given excellent field position to press their claims. Sloppy defence made matters worse, and it was a simple numbers advantage that saw Brooke Martin slide over out wide. Martin, who had experienced pressure football in Townsville’s loss to Central in the inaugural Bob Fulton Cup, had the intelligence to bring it around under the posts to ensure Drummond extended the lead. The Dolphins up 14-8.
Every game has its turning point, and the kick-off proved to be it for the Pumas. Trying to get back possession with a short and high kick-off, Rob Burrow put the ball out on the full to give the Dolphins a penalty. The resulting field position paid immediate dividends, Ben Black scoring a soft try only seconds after coming onto the field for Raif McCallin. The highly sought after young halfback had little trouble in crossing the whitewash after Colin Charvis drew the winger before offloading to his support. Drummond managed to land the difficult sideline conversion to make Eastwood’s job just a little harder- the visitors leading 20-8 with twenty minutes remaining.
The mark of every great football team is whether or not they know when to play safety football and when to throw the ball around. The Dolphins showed amazing maturity once they took a twelve point lead- tucking the ball under the jumper and playing simple football. Simple doesn’t mean boring, but the dummy half running and astute kicking made Eastwood’s chances of coming back all the harder.
Fans were furious in the 74th minute when Matt Adamson looked to have grabbed a legitimate double, banging the ball down over the line after a scrambling run from twenty out. With six minutes to go, a try and resulting conversion would have swung things, but the referee ruled that Adamson had been tackled- and penalized the inspirational forward instead. Desperation crept into Eastwood’s game then, with Jason Smith penalized for raking the ball in a two man tackle. The Dolphins went downfield, and Gabrielle Yane put the final nail in the coffin when he powered over despite the attentions of a despairing Ken McGuinness. The soft try ended a disappointing night for Eastwood, who would need either Redlands or Newcastle to lose if they wanted to remain in the race for this season’s title.
FULLTIME
North Queensland Dolphins 26
Raif McCallin
Brooke Martin
Ben Black
Gabrielle Yane
Drummond 5/5
Defeated
Eastwood Pumas 8
Matt Adamson
Burrow 2/2
PoM Points
Linden Drummond……………3
Matt Adamson………………...2
Ben Black……………………..1
