The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls travel to Jack Manski Oval, Townsville this weekend to face the Blackhawks on Sunday, 24th April in Round 5 of the QRL Hostplus Cup.
Both sides are coming off the Easter weekend break and will be looking to return to their winning ways following strong performances to close out the opening month of the season.
The Townsville Blackhawks took care of the Northern Pride 22-12 in Round 4 with Kalifa Faifai-Loa bagging a double and running for 157 metres in that game. The veteran winger has now scored in every match this year and profiles as a key strike weapon for the Blackhawks again in Round 5.
Tweed also come into this game on the back of a win, having put 32 points on the Burleigh Bears at Pizzey Park in Round 4. The Seagulls were excellent from the kick-off in that game, holding Burleigh to nil and piling on four tries in the first 40 minutes. The only negative to come from that game was a shoulder injury to hooker Brent Woolf, who has been in fine form to begin the year. Tweed have a challenge on their hands to overcome Woolf’s absence this week.
Player to Watch
With the Gold Coast Titans leaving some big names off their team-list this week there’s every chance Tweed pick up a few NRL-quality players come game day. That being said, all eyes are on Craig Garvey on Sunday as he steps into Brent Woolf’s vacated hooker role.
Garvey brings with him a wealth of experience at NRL and QRL level and if his efforts in Round 4 are anything to go by, Tweed are well positioned to handle Woolf’s injury. In 55 minutes last week Garvey ran for 142 metres, made one linebreak, set up a try and made 18 tackles for two misses.
How he links with big JJ Collins and Braden Robson around the ruck this week is something to watch out for.
Coach’s Comments
Tweed are the second best defensive team in the competition four rounds in. They’re consistently keeping the game in reach and earning themselves opportunities to rack up a few points on the back of their defensive pressure.
Seagulls Head Coach Ben Woolf has been pleased with their efforts off the ball to begin the year.
“I’ve been really happy with our defence to start the season,” Woolf said.
“We aren’t leaking many points in games and our missed tackles are low.”
Woolf is also looking forward to seeing Craig Garvey get his chance at dummy-half and is confident he can do a job with first-choice hooker Brent Woolf on the sidelines.
“Brent and Craig are similar players,” said Woolf.
“Both are strong runners of the ball and physical defenders. Craig uses a little more deception around the play-the-ball but I don’t think we need to change things too much this week with ‘Garvs’ in.”
Team List
- Paul Turner
- Sosefo Fifita
- Lee Turner
- Scott Galeano
- Ryland Jacobs
- Will Brimson
- Lindon McGrady
- JJ Collins
- Craig Garvey
- Lamar Manuel-Liolevave
- Joshua Patston
- Rueben Porter
- Braden Robson
- Jaline Graham
- Harrison Muller
- Ioane Seiuli
- Daniel Ross
- Blake Scott
Coach: Ben Woolf
Game Info
Round 5 v Townsville Blackhawks
Sunday 24th April @ Jack Manski Oval, Townsville
Kick-off: 2:10pm
Streaming via QPlus.tv (subscription required)
Written by Jason Oliver, Rugby League Writers for Tweed Seagulls Media
Related Posts
