Mal Meninga Cup Round 8 preview
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The Mal Meninga Cup will enter an exciting new chapter in Round 8 of the competition, as teams come out of the pools system and start to face off against each other across the state ahead of this year’s finals series.
After playing the first seven weeks in three pools, the competition will now take on a new look for the final four weeks of action.
And it could not be opening on a more exciting note, with the second-placed Ipswich Jets drawn to take on the third-placed Redcliffe Dolphins.
With the Dolphins the reigning premiers of the Mal Meninga Cup, Ipswich coach Tye Ingebrigtsen knows that this fixture will show his team exactly where they sit.
Coming out of Pool B, the Jets have spent the season so far taking on the Sunshine Coast Falcons, Western Clydesdales and Wide Bay Bulls, only suffering one loss as they settled into the year.
Ingebrigtsen knows a lot of hard work has gone into getting his team to this point.
“Improving is the right word for us,” he said.
“If you look at the side from last year, we lost eight players to NRL pathways clubs. LJ Nonu is one who signed with the Dolphins NRL and now will play against us this week.
“We lost a lot of key players from last year. They kicked on and are getting opportunities elsewhere. So this pre-season, the trials and the early stages of the competition, it was about people finding their feet and finding their place.
“It’s a relatively new team and I see improvement every week. The group gets closer and closer.
“It’s our defence I’ve been most impressed with. If you look at the for and against, we’ve only leaked 50 points. It’s really pleasing and that was one of our biggest focuses over the course of the pre-season.
“If we defend well, we’re always going to be half a chance to get the good outcomes. Where we sit in the ladder, it’s the best in the competition.
“We must be doing the right things defensively and reaping the rewards of that.”
And Ingebrigtsen knows he needs to see that steely defence again this Sunday if the Jets are to give themselves the best chance of knocking off the reigning premiers and staying high on the Mal Meninga Cup ladder.
The Jets have a mammoth run into finals – with the Dolphins this Sunday they then move into Burleigh in Round 9 and the competition-leading Tweed Seagulls in Round 10 before enjoying a Round 11 bye.
In Ingebrigtsen’s eyes, they are taking on the best teams of the competition.
“That’s not disrespecting anyone else but we get to play Redcliffe, Burleigh and Tweed,” he said.
“We’ve got three really massive challenges so we’re not going to shy away from how tough those opposition teams are.
“For us, it’s getting a gauge of where we really are. Our kids, the majority of my players are just local players. The Dolphins, they have six or seven who did an NRL pre-season.
“Tweed are getting a lot of Titans NRL signed kids too.
“We don’t have the luxury of those other clubs to have NRL players on our doorstep so now our local kids get a chance to test themselves.”
Despite sitting higher on the ladder currently, Ingebrigtsen believes his team are going in as the underdogs this Sunday.
But he has the belief in his side that they can cause an upset on home turf.
“As you can expect from anyone that won the comp the year before, they’re going to be classy,” he said of Redcliffe.
“They have really, really good players in their arsenal. John Fineanganofo, their hooker, is very dangerous. Their front rowers Elijah Rasmussen and Michael Waqa lead from the front and LJ is fullback for them and has been in dynamic form.
“That’s only a handful and all 17 are good. They have a great coach in 'Troncy' and I have a lot of respect for him as a coach. It’s a massive challenge.
“I just want us to compete. That’s the word we’ve used all week. I'm not worried about the outcome. There’s not many people expecting us to win. But if we can put on a good display, hopefully we can compete for the full 70 minutes.
“It’s a really big test for us. When you’re stuck in those pools, you don’t have a clear understanding of how you’re travelling. This is outstanding – the concept is great.
“I’m really excited for these kids. Some of these kids were in the squad last year but didn’t play – they didn’t get a chance.
“This year they’re in my starting side and developing into good young footballers. We’re developing within. Myself and Crossy (head of football, Ben Cross), we’re trying to nurture and develop our local kids and now they have the opportunity to play on the big stage on Sunday.”
For Redcliffe coach Scott Tronc, he doesn’t believe his side have hit their best form yet as they move into the final four weeks.
Tronc – who oversaw the Dolphins’ premiership campaign last year – wants to see more consistency from his side as they ramp up their title defence.
“We’ve been pretty clunky,” he said.
“We haven’t been consistent at all but there’s been patches of what’s required so we’ve just got to keep working on those.
“We just need to stick to our plan – keep it simple. And be consistent. I think that’s important to us. It’s under 19s, they like to go away from things at times.
“It’s about actually going out and applying your ability to your team on the field and that’s important to us that we get together and keep getting together.”
Tronc believes the Mal Meninga Cup has now entered its “serious” phase and thinks that it won’t just be the Dolphins who step up over the coming weeks, but the quality of the entire competition.
He certainly has his eye on the Jets and knows his team have to show respect to their opposition on Sunday if they want the two points.
“I have great respect for the Jets,” Tronc said.
“They’re a great club and they’ve been pioneers in shifting our game with shape and all those things in the past 10 years.
“We’ll be out there making sure we have our eye on our own game on Sunday, that’s really important. But making sure we respect them, that’s important to us as well.”
For a full draw of Round 8, click here.
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