The Campbell Construction Co. Tweed Seagulls take the field with no Titans NRL players in Rockhampton when they take on bottom-placed Central Queensland Capras on Saturday (6pm).
While some other NRL club feeder teams in the Intrust Super Cup will welcome back professional players into their teams this weekend after the NRL’s COVID restrictions have been relaxed, Tweed won’t have that liberty as NRL players are still unable to travel on commercial flights or mix in the community generally.
Hopefully, the Seagulls will have key players like Toby Sexton, Jayden Campbell, Jai Whitbread and Herman Ese’ese back the following weekend when they take on Townsville Blackhawks at Piggabeen Sports Complex.
Coach Ben Woolf will still take an experienced team to Browne Park for a must-win match after dropping to fifth place after the loss to Souths Logan Magpies last weekend.
The match will be played after the NRL clash between the Dragons and Rabbitohs, so a big crowd is expected.
Despite the Capras’ standing on the ladder, there is no way his side will take them lightly, said Woolf.
The Capras rattled Tweed in the first half of the opening game of the season, leading 18-12 at the break after out-enthusing the Seagulls, before Tweed fought back to win 28-18. The Capras went down only 30-24 against fourth-placed Redcliffe last weekend after beating Brisbane Tigers the week before.
Tweed will benefit from the return of hooker Brent Woolf (ankle) and centre Lee Turner (knee) who missed the Magpies’ clash but will again be without winger Talor Walters and have lost bench prop Darius Farmer with injury.
That has forced switches in the backline with Lindon McGrady returning to fullback and Tevin Arona, who was impressive in his debut off the bench last Saturday, starting at five-eighth. Brayden McGrady returns to the wing after playing fullback last round and Luke Burton goes to the second row.
“We’ve got to keep winning to stay in the race for a top four position and we certainly don’t go up there thinking the two point are going to be easy to get,”: said Woolf.
“The Capras have been very competitive in a lot of their games and have struck a bit of form. And they’ll be fired up in front of a big crowd and we know how physically they like to play
“We can’t drop any games (five rounds remain) if we want to finish in top four, so we have to go up there with the right attitude and play with more patience and commitment than we did last weekend.”
Tweed have a tremendous record in Rockhampton, winning in their last nine visits, and in 17 of the past 18 clashes between the two teams.
If the Seagulls win it will be their 200th in the Intrust Super Cup (from 404 games).
The teams to play at Browne Park, Rockhampton on Saturday July 31 at 5pm:
TWEED SEAGULLS: Lindon McGrady, Ryland Jacobs, Treymain Spry, Lee Turner, Brayden McGrady, Tevin Arona, Luke Jurd, JJ Collins, Brent Woolf, Harrison Muller, Lamar Liolevave (capt), Luke Burton, Braden Robson. Interchange: Liam Hampson, Stuart Mason, Daniel Ross, Jack Glossop.
CENTRAL QLD CAPRAS: Blake Moore, Cooper Marshall, Jake Maizen, Elliott Vincent, Jedidiah Simbiken, Radean Robinson, Jack Madden (capt), Tyler Szepanowski, Caleb Daunt, Bailey Butler, Caleb Tull, Nixon Putt, Lachlan Hubner. Interchange: Jack Pattie, McKenzie Yei, Takai Mokohar, Joel Brown, Myles Gal.
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