Eagles like their chances

THEY are two teams in similar circumstances following a decision by the New South Wales Rugby League.

Sea Eagles winger Kristian Freed. Picture: Warren Lynam

THEY are two teams in similar circumstances following a decision by the New South Wales Rugby League.

Sunshine Coast and Souths Logan have seen their respective relationships with NRL clubs Manly and Canberra end this year.

The Sea Eagles cut ties with Manly before the season started, but the Magpies ended their relationship with the Raiders only at the start of this month.

When the two Intrust Super Cup sides clashed earlier this year, Souths Logan’s Raiders stars combined to obliterate the Sea Eagles 62-24.

The Raiders have released a handful of their players to the Magpies for the remainder of the season, but it will be vastly different team that shows up at Sunshine Coast Stadium tomorrow and the Sea Eagles know they are in with a shot.

“They’ve still got some good Canberra players there that can’t go back (to the NRL),” Sea Eagles coach Adam Mogg said yesterday.

“They’re not as weak as every

one thought they would be. We’re definitely going to have a challenge with Drury Low, Travis Waddell and a couple of other forwards. He’s (Waddell) a first-grade footballer.

“We’ll have to play our best to get a win and if we do that, I’m sure that we can win.”

The Magpies ran wild in the round-six clash earlier this year as Raiders David Milne, Jarrad Kennedy, Michael Picker and Low bagged tries in the 38-point rout.

Sunshine Coast’s improvement since then has been emphatic. Although the Sea Eagles have just one win for the season, in the past couple of weeks they have produced spirited performances against premiership contenders Northern Pride and Redcliffe.

They kept Redcliffe to just 10 points and lost to the Pride by 10.

“I get really excited when I talk about our defence and how far they’ve improved,” Mogg said.

“If we keep on doing that and get better in our attack, the club will be in a good position to build a local Q-Cup team.”

Jaz Nahu-Main and Kristian Freed are likely to return from injury for the Sea Eagles.

Originally published as Eagles like their chances