Seagulls look for three wins in a row against clinical Tigers

Celebrating BHP Indigenous Round, Tigers coach Mark Gliddon said the clash against Tweed would come off the back off a mixed performance against Redcliffe for his side.

“It was two halves of footy... we were really good in the first half and we were a bit disappointing in the second half,” Gliddon said.

“We went away from what was working for us and the boys were a little disappointed in themselves.

"There’s a little old saying ‘if it’s not broken, don’t try to fix it’ and it wasn’t broken and unfortunately we tried to fix it and Redcliffe were pretty good in the second half, they came at us and played some good footy.”

Seagulls coach Matt King and his side, however, would be full of confidence after two winning performances against the Ipswich Jets and Northern Pride.

The 40-18 victory over Pride last weekend had Tweed firing out of the blocks with 24 first-half points and was highlighted by doubles for winger Troy Duckett and interchange star, Solomon Torrens.

Coming up against a team in form, Gliddon said he was pleased with how his team’s season was tracking, but knew this weekend against Tweed would be a tough contest.

“Four out of five is not too bad, we are up there with Wynnum and Redcliffe,” Gliddon said.

“The boys are working really hard, they are a good group of young men and we are little bit dusted after the weekend, Redcliffe are a big side and are pretty physical.

“[I’m] pretty happy with where we are at the moment, but we’ve got a tough road trip this weekend, probably the toughest in the competition, Tweed at Tweed, down at Piggabeen.”

Tweed have been living up to this reputation and have maintained their home-ground fortress mentality and are yet to suffer a loss in 2021 at home.

Gliddon said there would be a friendly personal contest on the line with opposition coach, King, as he was formerly a player under Gliddon’s coaching regime.

“I’ve had a bit to do with Matty over the years, I coached him 100 years ago, so they’ll be well coached because he was a pretty smart footballer,” Gliddon said.

“I don’t know a lot about Tweed, but I do know that their Auswide Bank Mal Meninga Cup side were very successful, so a few of those boys will probably come up.”

Gliddon also called for his side to focus on the control of the football for the upcoming clash.

“When we control the footy, we are a good football team and I think if you look at the whole competition at the moment in the under 21 [competition], whoever controls the footy on the day usually gets away with the chocolates, that’s what it is all about.

“Young men with the new rules, with how quick it is and playing for 40 minutes, they struggle to defend for long periods of time.

“So, it’s all about field position and ball possession and if you get those two things right and you hang onto the footy, you don’t have to do a lot of defence so the score line doesn’t blow out but if both teams aren’t completing, it will blow out because everyone’s attacking.”

It has showed in Tweed’s recent performances that if they can control the game and build pressure, points can come, and they can come fast so their focus will be on trying to mute a strong Tigers offence.

For the Tigers, Gliddon tipped second rower Simon Pratt to continue his excellent performances in the absence of superstar winger Ronald Philitoga and his promotion to the Intrust Super Cup side.

“[Simon’s] coming off an ACL and he’s been terrific over the last month for us, he’s the ultimate professional," Gliddon said.

“[I’m proud of Ronald and] I hope he stays there because it’s good for our club, it’s all about development, and that’s what we are there for, to feed to the Cup and if we are winning games and playing good footy, they got an opportunity.

“Ronald definitely deserved his opportunity [on the weekend] and didn’t look out of place.”

Tweed will need a strong, all-round team performance if they are to maintain their home-ground winning streak and knock off the second placed Tigers side.

Elsewhere in this split Round 6, three more games will take place.

Both the Mackay Cutters and Northern Pride are carrying in similar form into this weekend with losses in Round 5 and wins in Round 4. The two teams will be looking to get themselves out of the bottom half of the ladder when they meet in this northern derby.

The 11th-placed Central Queensland Capras are going to be up against it this weekend coming up against the third-placed Souths Logan Magpies who will be on a high after securing a dominant win over Western Mustangs 66-12 in Round 5.

Norths Devils and Sunshine Coast Falcons both sit close to each other on the ladder with the main difference being Norths securing a 30-20 win over the Capras in Round 5, while the Falcons suffered a narrow 30-36 against competition ladder-leaders Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

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