The Premier Men have been left to lament another missed opportunity for season defining win.
The Bull Sharks were tied 26-26 with the reigning premiers with five minutes to go before ill-discipline and poor game management allowed Brothers to seize the win.
It was better news for Colts 1 who pushed themselves into the top four for the first time this season while the Premier Women put on a defensive masterclass.
Bull Sharks v Brothers at Brothers
Colts 1
Bull Sharks won 22-14
How was it won
It was a pretty dominant performance by our forwards in the scrum or lineout which included four maul tries.
Bull Sharks Footy
The game plan was to draw them into a set piece battle knowing we could get ascendancy in the forwards, and it worked well.
Trademark Player
I think our whole front row were really good, Jake Leck, Blaze Moana and Jonah Rangiwai. But Keanu Rasch, the big back rower, was the one. He was he tough, defended really well and his set piece was excellent. He has been getting better every week.
The work to do
We have got to be smarter with our kicking so we can play a territory based game.
With Grant Anderson
Premier Men
Bull Sharks lost 33-26
How it unfolded
The game followed the same pattern as previous weeks. We were down 12 -0 early but bounced back to lead 14-12 at half time. We scored again just after half time to make it 19-12. They scored twice to make it 26-19 but we fought back to make it 26 - 26 and then we just failed to manage the final minutes of the match.
What it means
We've played the top three sides now on the ladder and we've won one and had two close losses but managed to pick up bonus points. So objectively it’s not a terrible result, it is just that we have now had a few games where we just haven’t managed to press home our advantage.
The work to do
We put ourselves under pressure with some pretty strange options. We just need to stick to the script. Run the plays that we practice, and we'll be fine.
What made you happy
We scored two maul tries so it's good to see some growth in that area. That is a part of our game we have been working hard to try and improve. We scored our first maul try of the season the week before and we’ve doubled up with two more this week, so we are definitely making progress there.
Bull Sharks Footy
I thought that after we fell behind early, we actually we stayed in fight which is really pleasing. It is just frustrating that we couldn’t finish it off.
Trademark Player
Deon Evans-Ao, he worked really hard on the wing. We just need to get him more ball.
With Mick Heenan
Premier Women
Bull Sharks won 7-0
How was it won
It was our defence, that was the key. We struggled with the attack, but we managed to keep them from scoring.
Bull Sharks Footy
All the things we have worked on with the defence started to come together. The line speed was an area we have focussed heavily on and that was really good.
What made you happy
We came up against a side that had a lot of Reds players in their forwards and our forwards aimed up against them and got on top.
Trademark Players
Eva Butler and Lucy Thorpe had big games for us, and Paris Mohr in the second row was very strong in her comeback from injury.
The work to do
We just couldn’t get our attack going, we have been working hard on defence and it is paying off, but we need to spend a bit of time on offensive scenarios.
With Lawrence Faifua