Coaches' call: Hostplus Cup Round 16 preview

Tweed coach Dave Penna is also expecting an emotional day and knows football will come second to the celebrations and memories of Hampson.

"It's still very emotional," Penna said.

"It hasn't been long at all. Liam was at the club for a couple of years and had terrific friends here and some boys were away with him at the time.

"It's more of a celebration than anything. The competition will be out there but it's for the celebration of Liam's life and what he's left behind."

Hostplus Cup Round 16

Wynnum Manly Seagulls v Sunshine Coast Falcons

Wynnum Manly Seagulls coach Mat Head: The scoreboard wasn't great last week against Redcliffe but the performance of the boys playing with 12 men for the final minutes due to injuries was a very gutsy effort. It's something we can build off. You want to win footy games but how the boys held themselves was very pleasing. It's just that part of the season where we have a few niggles and players couldn't get through the game. There will be some guys this weekend that will make their debuts for the club, which we will finalise after training tonight. We're up against the Sunshine Coast again after playing them recently and they're a very physical football team with a lot of speed across the park. They play an expansive style of footy and we know what to expect.

Sunshine Coast Falcons coach Brad Henderson: The focus this week - and it will be a big captain's run focus - is that grind mentality. We did it really well against Wynnum Manly the last time we played them but we just couldn't maintain it. They were just too good and pushed through it. At that stage, they just wanted it more than us. That desire to be the top team, I'd like to see it come out in our actions. There's a lot of understanding among the group on how we play but we need to do it for 80 minutes. I know Wynnum Manly are really physical and they were great through the middle against us last time. They have great halves and even though one might not be on the field in Kurt Falls, they won't change how they play. They'll have an idea of how to play and negate us. That level of intensity needs to be there from us.

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Northern Pride coach Eric Smith: The first takeaway from last week's win is that the big rivalry between the North Queensland teams - Cairns and Townsville - is one of the stronger ones in the competition. To go 2-0 this year against them, I know the people and staff at the club were pumped about that. From a football side of things, it was one of our better 80 minute performances on both sides of the football. I thought (Jake Clifford) Cliff and (Tom Duffy) Duff kicked really well and put us in good places. The way we kick-chased and defended those kicks, really put us in a good place. There's definitely lots out of it we want to replicate but there's still things we spoke about that we'd like to be better or more consistent at. We're forever trying to evolve and grow our game. We know what works now won't be working for us in a month's or two time, heading into bigger games. We're continually looking at ourselves and looking inwards on how to improve. It's another North Queensland battle this week and one where the two Cowboys affiliates are going at each other, so there's always extra in that as well. The Cowboys players want to get one up on each other. Last time we played them, we had a really good mindset. We're preparing for another strong encounter, the same we prepare every week - we're going into battle for 80 minutes and it's going to take a long, grinding effort to get it done.

Mackay Cutters coach Michael Comerford: We acknowledged it after the game and during the week that it was a high quality game of football against the Capras. Both teams played physical, had high completions and we thought, particularly in our first half, we were able to control the game right before they scored just before halftime. It was the fifteen minutes after the break that cost us. We were able to finish quite strongly, but we let the Capras back in on the scoreboard and couldn't claw it back. We still took a lot of positives away from it. We're expecting the Capras to be a finals contender and knew we were up against a strong outfit. They're a good team that were able to get points on the board when it mattered and that's what it came down to. Something we want to continue to do is do the hard yards early and set ourselves up to come home strong. We have to keep creating those opportunities. This week, the Pride are high on confidence and have every right to be. When you allow them to play fast, they're in their element and confident with their ball movement and the way they play. The first job is to limit the opportunities to create that momentum which they play off the back of so well. Last time they came down and did a really good job on us. That was off the back of them carrying hard and creating momentum and we weren't able to contain them. We know what's coming and we're looking to bounce back from that result against them a month ago but also the positives we've brought in over the last three to four weeks.

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Townsville Blackhawks coach Terry Campese: It was definitely disappointing to play the way we did against Northern Pride, especially in such a big game for Buttsy (Kyle Laybutt) and Rivalry Round. It was uncharacteristic for what we've tossed up over the last month. But now it's about how we react from that. We have to turn it around quite quickly because Norths are similar to Pride. We need to be a lot better. We've lost a couple pf players - Matt Wright to a calf injury and  Justin Hodges to suspension - so two leaders are missing. Those that come in have to have energy. It's hard to work out what wrong and you can overthink the situation. At the end of the day, every time you step on a field you need the right attitude and energy. It doesn't matter what's going on outside, you have to put it aside once you step over the line. That's something we need to be better at and learn from. The Devils had a really good performance against Souths Logan last week. They played the most attacking football from any team I've seen this year. (Julian) Christian and (Jack) Ahearn in the halves were going side to side and hitting their edges and the backrower (Oryn Keeley) made 300 metres. There's going to be a lot of pressure to make one on one tackles. If they come with the same game plan, we need guys to stand up.

Norths Devils coach Dave Elliott: We still need to be better. We were happy with our start against Souths Logan, we were happy with our defensive resilience when the game was backwards and forwards but we let our standards slip in the second half, particularly with the ball. We defended those errors fairly well but we were all pretty disappointed with our second half on review so that's where we need to be, an expectation we have as a squad. We were really happy with Julian Christian moving into five-eighth with Gerome Burns out injured. He's adapted well and we're really happy with the work he's put in. Defensively, he was really good. This week against the Blackhawks, we're expecting a really determined team. Probably no one saw that 48-0 scoreline against the Pride coming with how they've been playing over the last month. But they're playing back at home and Kyle Laybutt is moving in to the halves. While Matt Wright has done a really good job, Kyle will do well there and he sees himself as a half and loves playing in the halves. He'll be at his best and it will change the way they attack a little bit but between him and Bailey Biondi-Odo, they have strike on their edges and a really tough middle.

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Western Clydesdales coach Jason Alchin: That was our worst performance as a team last week. We had no enthusiasm, no support plays. It takes nothing away from Sunshine Coast. But when you look at it, the boys were disappointed with themselves and their performance. They know they can do better than that. From our last three games to that one, all our efforts were down and it showed on the scoreboard. We didn't turn up. We've addressed that and we'll go again against the big, mighty Burleigh Bears. It's good to back up against them. The boys can't kick stones or worry about last week too much - we know we have to play a phenomenal club, well-coached by Lukey Burt. They have four or five players who have played 150 Hostplus Cup games and they know their team management. They don't panic and just hold on. If you look at the start of their game against Tweed, they wouldn't be too happy with how they started and dropped a few balls and missed a few tackles but we know they won't start like that again. They know they're better than that. We have a few people out, which affects us so we have to have a "next man up" motto and we'll be using a couple local boys. We're playing in Warwick, which is great for the community out there. We know what we're in for this weekend. We know there's know only eight games to go so we want to be that team that can really push sides to their limit and see where they are. We'll put in a better performance than last week, I can tell you that now.

Burleigh Bears coach Luke Burt: It was a really good response to the last couple of weeks where I felt we didn't put ourselves in a good position to finish off a game. We did that quite well against Tweed. Our focus now is building on that. The first half was good but not the standards we'd like to be at. The second half was better so it's about combining the two halves together. It's been a theme of one good half and one not so good for us recently. This week we're expecting a really tough match. The Clydesdales have been right in it against the Sunny Coast and the Pride and they're a tough, gritty side. Being in Warwick, they'll have a home crowd behind them so we'll need to be at our best.

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Souths Logan Magpies coach Karmichael Hunt: We're finding it difficult to have a disciplined performance. In the first 40 the possession count was really lopsided and that was due to late tackle penalties, giving ourselves no chance. Norths, the quality side they are, put us under immense pressure. From there, having spent most of our time defending, we didn't have much energy. It's a funny one for me. I don't want to harp too much on errors and discipline and sit in the neg cycle. It had to be addressed and it was after the Townsville game. I've mentioned it lightly this week and we're going on to prepare the best we can. We did an opposed session against the Broncos on Wednesday so we're looking forward to this weekend against the Tigers and have a better performance this time around. It was a close game last time we met and they're playing some really good football. It's another tough challenge for us. They have a lot of quality so it's a challenge to get on track and making things work for us.

Brisbane Tigers coach Matt Church: The bye was a really good opportunity to freshen up. There's a chill in the air and it feels like the long point of the season. But it was a good opportunity for us to get away. Our last three games in between the two byes we've had, we found a bit of identity and became hard to beat again. We were probably the better team against Wynnum but didn't nail our opportunities and it certainly felt like in the Burleigh game, we were in control. I don't think the scoreline reflected how dominant we were. This week we have Souths Logan and young Coby Black is going to be a fine footballer so they're giving him plenty of opportunity. Not sure if Albert Kelly will play but he's crafty and experienced. They're going to play footy at you. It's a game that probably means a lot to both teams, one that could ignite you moving into the back end of the season.

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Redcliffe Dolphins coach Ben Te'o: Every team that sits above us on the table, we've had a result against. We haven't played as well as should in games that we're expected to win. That's down to our own attitude and preparation. It was great to get a result against Wynnum last week but we really did park it pretty quickly and turn our focus to a game we've been talking about for a long time. The occasion is going to bring out the best in both sides so I don't think form or position on the ladder counts for anything in a game like this and I don't think anyone in this game is thinking about that either. I love it because I think it will be a finals-type atmosphere and intensity, which is what we need.

Tweed Seagulls coach Dave Penna: We had six minutes of hell last week where Burleigh put nearly 24 points on us and the game got out of reach. It wasn't pleasant and was a pretty hard loss for us as a team. But we have another chance to get ourselves back where we need to be and play our best footy and that's what we want to do. We're expecting a tough, physical game from the Dolphins. Their completion rates are through the roof, they have big bodies and are playing very disciplined footy. We'll have to be at our best for 80 minutes.

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Ipswich Jets coach Tye Ingebrigtsen: Coming off a disappointing result versus Mackay, we've moved into a bye week and now had two weeks to prepare. We were a little bit disappointing and not up to standard. It's about making sure those areas that let us down we fine tune moving forward and we need to do better against PNG. They'll be very powerful, very big and strong, and try to run through us. We need to make sure we defend nice and strong this weekend and limit as much game speed as we can. They like to play off quick ruck speed and they run hard so we have to make sure we withhold that as much as we can. 

PNG Hunters coach Paul Aiton: We haven't played in three weeks with the double bye. The first week off, we gave the boys some time off to refresh a little bit. Some guys did play local league. Then the last week we trained a little bit and gave them the weekend off. They're looking fresh. We're hoping the momentum will carry over. We had a couple of wins on the trot and then our performance dropped a little bit so I think the bye came at a good time to regather ourselves. The boys are happy to be back together again and there's a bit of excitement. Last time we played them, it turned out to be quite a grind, quite a tough game. We're expecting exactly the same. They came up and just put everything into that game and took the challenge of playing the Hunters and it will be no different when we go there down.

Broadcast: Qplus.tv

Bye: Central Queensland Capras

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