Bears aware of hungry Tigers

After flying out of the blocks to start the 2020 season, the Burleigh Bears will be looking to rebound from back-to-back losses when they take on the Southport Tigers at Owen Park tomorrow afternoon.

As teams continue to fight it out for a top four spot in Rugby League Gold Coast’s QTOP A Grade competition, every matchup in the remaining three rounds could prove pivotal to their chances of playing finals football.

After going down to Burleigh 32-4 in the grand final rematch in Round 1 earlier this season, Southport will be keen to get one back on their rivals in what shapes to be a tough and hard-fought clash.

After a bright start to the season, Burleigh have lost matches to Runaway Bay and Mudgeeraba in recent weeks, and will be desperate to turn things around in order to shore up their position in the top four.

With Southport suffering a shock loss to Ormeau last weekend, Bears coach Matt Foster said his team will need to prepare themselves for a hungry Tigers outfit looking to bounce back.

“They lost a game last weekend they probably felt they needed to win, so they’re going to be energetic and looking for a result,” Foster said.

In a competition where nothing is guaranteed and each team is actively in the mix to play in October, Foster knows his side needs to keep improving each week in order to get back to their winning ways.

“It’s an exciting competition and it’s nice to be playing games each week where you can’t be certain of the result,” the Burleigh coach said.

“We need to keep the same enthusiasm and desire in defence from last weekend, but be smarter with the football in attack.”

After last week’s announcement that the finals will be played at Cbus Super Stadium, Foster said while it is a great coup for the competition, his team can’t afford to look too far ahead and instead must focus on the task at hand.

“We aren’t looking that far ahead, we need to get there in order to appreciate it,” Foster said.

“While we would be excited to be a part of it, we have plenty of work to do before that happens.”

The match will be broadcast live on the Rugby League Gold Coast Facebook page.

Round 8 fixtures

Round 8 teams

Currumbin Eagles v Tugun Seahawks

Currumbin Eagles

1. Talor Walters 2. Bayley Desmond 3. Blake Anderson 4. Thomas Berkers 5. Joshua Walker 6. William Ramsey 7. Luke Jurd 8. Pele Peletelese 9. Cole Geyer 10. Brayden Gallagher 11. Rory Lillis 12. Ben Liyou 13. Samuel Saville 14. Charlie Murray 15. Jakob Smith 16. Jarrod Gill 17. Stuart Mason

Tugun Seahawks

1. Alexander Grant 2. Nathanael Barnes 3. Kurtis McDonald 4. Timothy Cassidy 5. Didymus Blankett 6. Samuel Meskell 7. Jacob Grant 8. Joshua Harvey 9. William Johnstone 10. Joshua Bainbridge 11. James Torrens 12. Solomon Torrens 13. James Toole 14. Mitchell Backler 15. Ethan Roberts 16. Matthew King

Southport Tigers v Burleigh Bears

Southport Tigers

Team not submitted at the time of publish.

Burleigh Bears

1. Jayden Campbell 2. William Evans 3. Regan Ogle 4. Taine Tuaupiki 5. Shawn Anderson 6. Shallin Fuller 7. Dallas Wells 8. Ben Valeni 9. Jordan Scott 10. Lochlyn Sheldon 11. Brett Stratton 20. Tristan Powell 13. Reece Summer 14. Reece Mckenzie-O'Brien 15. Bailey Court 18. Joshua Ailaomai 17. Allan Lockwood

Runaway Bay Seagulls v Ormeau Shearers

Runaway Bay Seagulls

1. John Mackin 2. Jake Powell 3. Jamie Anderson 4. Jaylan To'o 5. Jacob Garland 6. Guy Hamilton 7. Alex Bishop 8. Nicholas Ritter 9. Jenan Wedderburn-Parrish 10. Doryaan Hape Apiata 11. Darcy Sims 12. Luke Burton 13. Carsil Vaikai 14. Mitchell Whitton 15. Codey McLaughlin 16. Sione Kupa 18. Vinncent Takataka

Ormeau Shearers

1. Kurtis Rowe 2. Brogan Melrose 3. Haydyn O'Hara 4. Liam Hori-Clark 5. Jalen Tangiiti-Turner 6. Conner Toia 7. Craig Chapman 8. Anthony Gray 9. Albert Junior Ma Chong 10. Andrew Petaia 11. Graham Hohapata 12. Zane Prophet 13. Coen Rankmore 14. Anthony Stoeckert 15. Lazeryth Sua 16. Izayah Nuku 17. Jaymz Douglas-Webb