Some stars of the future will be in action for Gold Coast Titans on Friday night, with a youthful side selected to take on Burleigh Bears in their pre-season trial.
The sold-out fixture at Pizzey Park will feature a number of players who would be familiar faces to fans of the Intrust Super Cup and the Queensland Rugby League's junior statewide competitions, with talents like Tristan Powell, Toby Sexton, Alofiana Khan-Pereira and Jayden Campbell all selected in the side.
Powell, Khan-Pereira and Campbell will be lining up against their Bears squad mates, with the trio having played for the club in the Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup and Hastings Deering Colts competitions.
All three players also featured for the Bears in the Gold Coast QTOP A Grade competition last season.
Sexton is a young star for the NRL club's other feeder club Tweed Seagulls, winning the national under 18 title with the club in 2019.
"I'm so excited to play," Sexton said of the upcoming trial via the Gold Coast Titans website.
"It's been nearly 12 months since my last proper game, so I'm itching to play a proper game of footy again.
"I'm excited to put everything I've learnt into practice and go out there and have a good one."
Sexton will be joined in the Titans trial squad by fellow Seagulls players Will Brimson, Brent Woolf and Brayden McGrady, who has returned to the Gold Coast following a stint with Penrith Panthers.
The trial match is a good chance for both teams to have a solid hit out before the season starts, given the limited opportunities to play in trial games this year.
For Titans assistant coach Jim Lenihan, who guided the Bears to the Intrust Super Cup title in 2019, it will also be a 'homecoming of sorts' to see the game at Pizzey Park.
Lenihan said he viewed the matches between NRL and Intrust Super Cup teams as a good way for players shine, citing the example of 2019 Petero Civoniceva Medal winner and now Titans halfback Jamal Fogarty.
"Anyone who is playing in the Intrust Super Cup and gets an opportunity to plan an NRL squad regardless of who is running out in the jersey, they look at it as an opportunity to see how they stack up to the full-time trainers," Lenihan said.
"There are so many stories like (Fogarty) in the Intrust Super Cup, who if given the opportunity at the right time where they're ready for it and the club is ready for it then they can really make a fist of it."
