2019 Under-18 National Final
Tweed Heads Seagulls v Illawarra Steelers
Sunday May 12, Dolphin Stadium, 11:00am (local time)
Live streaming on qrl.com.au
Tweed Heads and Illawarra meet on Sunday morning in what will be their first under-18 National Final appearances since the concept began in 2011.
Tweed Heads, who finished the Mal Meninga Cup season in 4th, are coming into the game off of their first ever Mal Meninga Cup premiership win after defeating Wynnum Manly by four points.
The Seagulls led for the majority of the game, holding off a valiant Wynnum Manly comeback in the second half to secure the title.
Illawarra defeated Manly in the SG Ball Cup final, their first premiership since 1996, in what was also a tight contest.
They trailed by one point going into the final 10 minutes, before a Talatau Amone try put them ahead in the 63rd minute and a Treigh Stewart sealed the win in the dying seconds.
Keep An Eye On…
Tweed’s Ediq Ambrosyev was named Man of the Match in last week’s Grand Final and has been a crucial member of the Seagulls pack. The Titans-contracted hooker made a number of last ditch tackles in the final and was always a threat out of dummy half.
Illawarra’s halfback and captain Jayden Sullivan scored two tries and set up another in his side’s win over Manly. A dangerous runner of the ball, the Seagulls will have to be wary of his dummy, which contributed to both his tries in the Grand Final.
| P | T | G | Pts | Tweed Heads | Illawarra | P | T | G | Pts | |
| 7 | 6 | 0 | 24 | Reece WALSH | 1 | Treigh STEWART | 11 | 6 | 0 | 24 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Troy DUCKETT | 2 | Tyrell SLOAN | 11 | 9 | 0 | 36 |
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 20 | Xavier COATES | 3 | Aaron SCHOUPP | 11 | 9 | 8 | 52 |
| 8 | 7 | 0 | 28 | Caleb HODGES | 4 | Max FEAGAI | 8 | 8 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Jake MARTIN | 5 | Mathew FEAGAI | 10 | 11 | 0 | 44 |
| 8 | 3 | 0 | 12 | Kade HILL | 6 | Talatau AMONE | 11 | 5 | 0 | 20 |
| 8 | 1 | 31 | 66 | Toby SEXTON | 7 | Jayden SULLIVAN (c) | 11 | 10 | 36 | 112 |
| 7 | 2 | 0 | 8 | Ben LIYOU | 8 | Sean PAYNE | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | 0 | 12 | Ediq AMBROSYEV | 9 | Connor MUHLEISEN | 9 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | 0 | 12 | Solomon TORRES | 10 | Blake DOWEL | 10 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 8 | 4 | 0 | 16 | Juwan COMPAIN | 11 | Zach HERRING | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | 4 | 0 | 16 | Brendan PIAKURA | 12 | Jackson SHEREB | 10 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Carsil VAKAI | 13 | Oscar FITZPATRICK | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Josh BEVAN | 14 | Sam HOOPER | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Israel HIGGINS | 15 | Phoenix VETENIBUA-FINNERTY | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | James TORRENS | 16 | Joshua CORIC | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Isaac PERRETT | 17 | Trent GRIFFITHS | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Ammon MUNRO | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 19 | Jack WALSH | 5 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |||||
| 20 | Billy HAYBURN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 21 | Zane BOERSMA | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Tim McCANN | Coach | Ben LINDE |
18TH MAN 