A top of the table clash between Souths Logan Magpies and Burleigh Bears headlines the start of the second half of the 2023 home-and-away season.
Burleigh keeps marching on, winning their last six games, while the Magpies, who host the match at Cbus Super Stadium prior to the NRL clash between the Gold Coast Titans and South Sydney Rabbitohs, have scraped five wins together despite being short of their best according to coach Karmichael Hunt.
But their effort has never been left wanting and it need to continue to if they're to challenge for top spot.
"The last couple of weeks on the road we've been able to scrape a few wins together. We haven't played our best or most consistent footy over those games but it's always positive to win in those situations," Hunt said.
"I think, although inconsistent (in execution), for the large majority of the games the boys have consistently been putting in for each other and that's been built on the back of a really good preseason and their fitness and conditioning being at the standard you need at this level, we've been able to play out games for longer periods of time and been getting the job done when they've needed to, so I'm looking forward to more of that on Saturday."
Both teams could be missing their first-choice fullbacks - Bears No.1 Keano Kini earning a start for the Titans and Magpies custodian Tristan Sailor on standby for another Brisbane Broncos call-up - but Hunt said Burleigh still had plenty of firepower for his side to manage.
"They've got threats all over the park, experience in key positions, some good halves, some really big outside backs that play a good style of footy and really try to move you around so I don't think we can focus on taking out one factor of our game. It's going to take a team effort so to speak right across the park to get the job done," he said.
Hostplus Cup Round 12
Match: Hunters v Seagulls
Round 12 -
home Team
Hunters
10th Position
away Team
Seagulls
8th Position
Venue: Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby
PNG Hunters v Tweed Seagulls
Head-to-head: PNG 9 Tweed 5
Last meeting: Tweed 24 def PNG 22 in Round 10, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- PNG have won three of the four games between these two sides in Port Moresby, and five of the six games between these two sides in Papua New Guinea
- The Hunters have won two of their last three home games
- Tweed have won four of their last five away games
A word from the coaches
PNG Hunters coach Stanley Tepend: Comments not yet submitted
Tweed Seagulls coach David Penna: "I’m very disappointed in the way we played last week. There are no excuses, we were outplayed and out-enthused. Wynnum played really well. They were down on troops so they had blokes turn up and they were just really enthusiastic, ran hard, and did all of the simple things really well. If you do that you always put yourself in with a chance. It’s one of those things we’ve just got to move on from, learn from where we went wrong and try to get ourselves back into playing our footy. The Hunters this week, they’re a fantastic team - I love watching them play. They’re physical and aggressive, they run hard they love what they do. We’re going to have to play for 80 minutes and be on our game to even go close to them, so that will be our challenge for Saturday."
Match: Magpies v Bears
Round 12 -
home Team
Magpies
1st Position
away Team
Bears
2nd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Souths Logan Magpies v Burleigh Bears
Head-to-head: Burleigh 29 Souths Logan 14 Drawn 3
Last meeting: Burleigh 34 def Souths Logan 10 in Round 7, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- Burleigh's 52-0 win last weekend was their biggest ever margin, and the equal most points they have scored against the Jets
- Burleigh has played two previous games at Cbus Super Stadium, winning both (2018 over Tigers; 2021 over PNG)
- Sami Sauiluma now has 68 tries for Burleigh, behind only Kurtis Rowe (71), Reggie Cressbrook (69) and Trent Purdon (69)
A word from the coaches
Souths Logan Magpies coach Karmichael Hunt: "The boys are really excited actually, firstly about the top of the table clash. We're looking forward to testing ourselves against Burleigh and they've been in some really good form and are a class side. The next variable is... to play at Cbus, which will for some of our boys be their first experience playing at an NRL venue, so everyone is looking forward to the occasion. The cornerstone for us this season has been our defence. Burleigh is a really strong attacking team and can score points, really classy players and a team that's been together for a while so our focus will be first and foremost taking care of the defensive side of the footy and then allowing our attack to fire shots. For us it's just about trying to make sure we play the brand of footy we want for longer periods of the game, so our focus won't change much."
Burleigh Bears coach Luke Burt: "I’m excited with our position at the halfway point of the year, with plenty of improvement left in us. I thought we made some great progress over the last few weeks. Against Ipswich last week, I was really happy with the defensive side of things. We made too many errors for our liking but we defended out errors and worked as a unit. Turning our attention to this week, I find Souths Logan a really gritty team. There’s 17 players that play 80 minutes and have a really good style of football. We’re expecting to be tested right across the park."
Match: Blackhawks v WM Seagulls
Round 12 -
home Team
Blackhawks
12th Position
away Team
WM Seagulls
6th Position
Venue: Jack Manski Oval, Townsville
Townsville Blackhawks v Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Head-to-head: Townsville 7 Wynnum Manly 3
Last meeting: Townsville 28 def Wynnum Manly 12 in Round 3, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- Wynnum Manly have won two of the last three games between these two sides at Jack Manski Oval
- Townsville have lost three of their last four home games
- Wynnum Manly have lost two of their last three away games
A word from the coaches
Townsville Blackhawks coach Aaron Payne: Comments not yet submitted
Wynnum Manly Seagulls coach Mat Head: "The big thing for us is trying to find some consistency and we played really against PNG (in Round 10) for the first 40 minutes. We backed it up the following week against Tweed and put in our best performance of the season, so that's exciting for us and we're building a little bit of momentum, but if we don't back it up this weekend, the two weeks previous haven't led to anything, so we're excited at the challenge of Townsville and hopefully we can put in a good performance."
Match: Dolphins v Clydesdales
Round 12 -
home Team
Dolphins
4th Position
away Team
Clydesdales
13th Position
Venue: Kayo Stadium, Redcliffe
Redcliffe Dolphins v Western Clydesdales
Head-to-head: Redcliffe 15 Clydesdales 13 Drawn 1
Last meeting: Redcliffe 27 def Clydesdales 6 in the 2006 grand final
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- Redcliffe have four wins and a draw in the last six games between these two sides at Redcliffe
- Redcliffe have won their last four homes games, and have only one loss in their last 13 home games, with two drawn
- Clydesdales have lost their last three away games
A word from the coaches
Redcliffe Dolphins coach Ben Te'o: "We travelled well. They're a tough side to go and play, Sunshine Coast Falcons, and we've had a few guys play really well for us and now they're going to travel over to New Zealand with the NRL side, so we're pretty happy with that. It was always going to be a tough game against the Clydesdales. We trialled against them and the team they are, they're really tough and we respect them. We are going to lose a fair few players this week, but it's an opportunity for some other guys to get a go, and we'll be ready. Coming up from Colts we've got Aydan Hoad, Michael Waqa's going to get a go, Levi Wilson comes up, so there's a couple of those guys that get an opportunity to slot in to the team. It's the job of the coaching staff to prepare the team well, it's the job of the senior players to make sure there's the right environment for these guys to play in, but at the end of the day they're young men stepping into a tough competition and there's nothing easy about it."
Western Clydesdales coach Jason Alchin: "We lost that game (against Souths Logan) ourselves. Not to take anything away from Souths Logan, that was our game to win and we dropped the ball. It's another game we let slip, but we're slowly learning more and more about what we should be doing. It's just all about us getting together as a team and getting to know each other a bit better, and we are, we're going over things and trying to get better and worry about ourselves. We can score the points, but the problem is teams are scoring against us. Defence wins games. Redcliffe is a good team and Ben's got them playing well over there, and we know what's in front of us."
Match: Falcons v Cutters
Round 12 -
home Team
Falcons
9th Position
away Team
Cutters
14th Position
Venue: Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast Falcons v Mackay Cutters
Head-to-head: Mackay 15 Sunshine Coast 10
Last meeting: Sunshine Coast 36 def Mackay 18 in Round 19, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- Sunshine Coast have won five of their last six home games
- Mackay have lost their last eight away games
- Brandon Finnegan now has 162 points for the Cutters, equal second with Daniel Abraham, and behind only Liam Taylor (843).
A word from the coaches
Sunshine Coast Falcons coach Brad Henderson: "The last few weeks have been very hit and miss. We haven't been bad, but haven't been as good as we should be. I feel like we're flatling a bit, so we'll need a burst of energy this week. It's really nice to have Louis Geraghty back. He's been out for some time now with a hamstring strain and we've missed that competitive edge Louis brings to the team. Add to that we've got Luke Jurd making his starting debut for the club. He's going to play in the halves for us as Jayden Nikorima isn't making the trip up from Melbourne. Zac Miles one of our Indigenous players has helped design a jersey the lads will wear (to mark National Reconciliation Week), so that's special for him in particular and we've got quite a few young Indigenous lads in the overall squad, so it will be a nice day."
Mackay Cutters coach Michael Comerford: Comments not yet submitted
Match: Jets v Pride
Round 12 -
home Team
Jets
15th Position
away Team
Pride
7th Position
Venue: North Ipswich Reserve, Ipswich
Ipswich Jets v Northern Pride
Head-to-head: Pride 15 Ipswich 14 Drawn 1
Last meeting: Pride 40 def Ipswich 18 in Round 20, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv, Kayo Freebies and 9Now
- Pride have won the last three games between these two sides
- Ipswich has won three of the last four games between these two sides at North Ipswich Reserve
- Ipswich have lost their last five home games
A word from the coaches
Ipswich Jets coach Ben Cross: "Our completions and our handling errors were really poor last week and we need to improve that massively. There was a period there in the second half that was a real arm wrestle and were giving as good as we got, there were no tries scores, and we need to be able to hold on to that and be able to do that for at least 40 minutes to give us the opportunity to compete... but until we start to get our completions and our percentages up with the ball, we're always going to be behind the eight-ball. There's signs there we can do that. (Pride) are a little bit unpredictable actually, just looking at their past couple of games they've had different people in different positions... and they've been a little bit up and down with the form. But their biggest catalyst is Julian Christian, whether he's playing in the halves or fullback and team reflect his performance a little bit, so he'll be a big person to keep our eye on."
Northern Pride coach Ty Williams: "Just with how passionate PNG is about rugby league, I think that shocked us a bit, as much as I tried to educate them on it, but it was probably the reason we started a bit slow in the first half. We were a bit overawed and I just needed to get the boys in the shed at half time and re-focus them and when they got going in the second half we were really professional. We turned in some really good football, some good tries and it was really exciting to watch. We're at the back end of an eight-week block that has seen us on the road a fair bit, but if we can through the game this weekend, we have a bye next week then a string of home games after that I'm looking forward to. But we still have one more to get through this week and the boys have been really good at training. This is definitely a danger game for us on the back of building some really good momentum. (Ipswich) is struggling a bit but we will never disrespect the competition we play in knowing on any day, any team can win, and that's been a really big focus this week. Ash Little comes back into the squad this week after PNG and plays his 50th Cup game and we've spoken about enjoying and celebrating those big moments in individuals' careers and just making sure we reward Ash in the right way, which would obviously be a win down there."
Match: Tigers v Capras
Round 12 -
home Team
Tigers
3rd Position
away Team
Capras
5th Position
Venue: Totally Workwear Stadium, Brisbane
Brisbane Tigers v Central Queensland Capras
Head-to-head: Tigers 37 Capras 11 Drawn 2
Last meeting: Tigers 38 def Central 34 in Round 19, 2022
Broadcast: Qplus.tv
- Tigers have seven wins and a draw in the last eight games between these last two sides at Totally Workwear Stadium
- The Capras have won three of their last four away games
- Tigers' Leivaha Pulu plays his 50th Cup game, which has included matches for Tweed and Norths
A word from the coaches
Brisbane Tigers coach Matt Church: "We don't want to take anything away from the Cutters game. I thought they were sensational and probably deserved the points for their efforts. We were very lucky to get away with that so for us this week it's more about our mindset and how we attack the game. There were no major concerns, I think it was just our application to the game. We're level with the Capras and the two teams above us are playing well so it's an important weekend and we know we're up for a contest this weekend and we have to be on our game. This week and the next couple of weeks we're playing teams that are around us on the ladder so we obviously want to perform well over that period because that will set up the back end of the season and where we finish."
Central Queensland Capras assistant coach David Faiumu: "We've been a little bit inconsistent with our form. The message last week before we played Norths was we had to make a good start. We just wanted to get the jump and hopefully that would flow through the game. We did that through to the second period of the second half, Norths got a bit of a roll on us. Our discipline was poor last week, lots of six-agains and couple of little errors which allowed them back in the game, but through our desperation and will to win, we were lucky enough to post some points at the end. We know we're up against an in form team in Brisbane Tigers and they come with a wealth of experience and a pretty handy back five to get them down the field with the big boys up front. We're going to have to be on our 'A' game."
