Intrust Super Cup: Desperate times for heavyweights in our previews for Round 7

TWO heavyweights reach desperation stage, Dolphins pair good to go and the Tigers not phased by travel in Round 7 of the Intrust Super Cup.

dolwyn Redcliffe at Wynnum Manly Queensland Cup rugby league. Tim Natusch carries the ball up for Wynnum Manly.

IT’S almost desperation time for two of the Intrust Super Cup’s powerhouses heading into Round 7.

The winless Wynnum Manly Seagulls (14th) will take on the Ipswich Jets (10th) at North Ipswich Reserve on Sunday with both teams struggling to live up to their reputations so far this season.

Wynnum Manly head into this weekend with several key players missing through injury, including centre Dan Wallace and forward Tim Natusch, and are coming off a 30-18 loss to the Easts Tigers last week.

But coach Jon Buchanan said the mood was still positive within the group.

“We’re a united group here. No one is more frustrated with the results than the playing group and me but we just have to stick together and find our way through it,” he said.

“I think at times in the second half last week, we showed what we are capable of, so hopefully we can build on that.

“The competition is so tight if you can pull three or four wins together and a bye, you’re right back in it, but finals is a world away for us right now, we haven’t even spoken about it.”

Brisbane Broncos contracted centre Greg Eden will return to the Seagulls while Nicholas Harrold will make his debut after being selected from the club’s BRL team.

Ipswich’s premiership credentials have been thrown into question following their Round 6 flogging from Redcliffe, but they will have a golden opportunity to break a two-game losing streak at home to Wynnum Manly.

Coming off a narrow loss at home to Northern Pride, the defending premiers were blown away by a Redcliffe first-half blitzkrieg on Saturday, with the Dolphins racking up a 32-0 lead at the break.

Barring a late change, the Jets will again be without leading tryscorer Marmin Barba, who was a last-minute withdrawal from the clash with Redcliffe.

Despite their inconsistent form, Ipswich remains just two wins outside the top six, while the Seagulls are yet to taste victory in six outings this season.

Kick off is at 3.30pm at North Ipswich Reserve.

REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS (6th) vs MACKAY CUTTERS (13th) — Saturday, 6pm at BB Print Stadium

HARLEY Aiono and Danny Bridge will take their place for Redcliffe Dolphins at Mackay on Saturday night despite injury scares last weekend.

Aiono was injured while scoring the first try in last week’s 38-12 win over Ipswich.

Coach Adam Mogg has been able to keep a fairly consistent line-up for the opening six rounds but was keeping mum on the benefits of it.

“I don’t really want to talk about it to be honest,” he said.

“We bumped our way through the trials chopping and changing with injuries.”

Joseph Bradley has earned a shot in the 17 after training well, while Tyson Cleal will travel to Mackay as 18th man after impressive BRL performances over the past two weeks.

The Dolphins will be looking to keep up their strong defence, conceding just 14.4 points per game so far this season.

The Cutters go into the game off the back of a 32-16 loss at home to North Devils.

NORTHS DEVILS (8th) vs PNG HUNTERS (3rd) — Saturday, 6.30pm at National Football Stadium, Port Moresby

THE hardest road trip in the Intrust Super Cup awaits Norths when they travel to Port Moresby to do battle with PNG on Saturday.

To make matters worse for the Devils, the Hunters are coming off a heart-stopping 11-10 win over previously unbeaten Townsville in round 6.

However, Norths will take winning form of its own into the 6.30pm clash with the equal-ladder leaders after downing Mackay 32-16 on Saturday.

The result, which was built on a blistering opening half-hour that included three converted tries, kept the Devils within a point of the top six.

Halfback Todd Murphy, who sits third on the competition’s pointscoring chart with 48, will again be a key figure for the visitors, who will likely end the round in sixth place if they can pull off an upset.

SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS (7th) vs TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS (1st) — Sunday, 1.40pm at Sunshine Coast Stadium

SUNSHINE Coast coach Craig Ingebrigtsen says his side has exceeded expectations so far this season but the real test of their mettle will come over the next two weeks, starting with Townsville on Sunday.

The Falcons will be without regular hooker Nafe Seluini and many of their backs from the early rounds in a reflection of Melbourne Storm’s backline injury crisis.

Seluini injured his hamstring in the win over the CQ Capras last weekend and Ingebrigtsen said it would be tough to win without him even with the home crowd support.

“He probably could have really put some heat on the Blackhawks,” he said.

“It’s a week-by-week thing. We think maybe two weeks but we’ll be assessing him again next week.”

But Ingebrigtsen was hopeful the return of captain Troy Giess and prop Thomas Geraghty would somewhat balance out the loss of the explosive hooker.

Alex Bishop, who shifted from five-eighth to cover Seluini last weekend, will start in the No.9.

Ingebrigtsen said he was surprised to have a 4-2 win-loss record so far this season and hoped the Falcons could get a result against the Blackhawks or Ipswich next week to put a stamp on their early season form.

SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES (11th) vs TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS (12th) — Sunday, 3pm at Davies Park

SOUTHS Logan Magpies will welcome Tweed Heads Seagulls to Davies Park as they chase a third win of the season.

The Magpies will need to overcome the loss of forwards Caleb Timu and Joe Boyce for the clash, with Timu crossing codes to sign with the Queensland Reds while Boyce is expected to be out for “a couple of weeks” after suffering a shoulder injury in Souths Logan’s 38-32 defeat to Burleigh last weekend.

Daniel Tamou and captain Phil Dennis have been elevated to the starting side from the bench to replace the duo, while Daniel Russell, Aotealofa Tuimavave, George Fai, Tikiko Noke, Jack Walters and Taeao Kepu have been named on an extended bench.

The backline is far more settled with only one change being made. Centre Scott Doyle returns from suspension to line up in the centres, which pushes his replacement Luke Archer to the wing and forces Jonathon Kent out of the side.

After another poor start against Burleigh in which the Magpies conceded two tries in the first 10 minutes and trailed 22-10 at half time, coach Josh Hannay spoke of the need to begin matches better.

“I’ve looked at some statistics from the first six rounds and if you combine the first 20 minutes of each game, we are down (58-20),” he said.

“I think it’s probably a mental issue. We’re making it hard for ourselves and we don’t want to have to keep coming from behind.

“To the players’ credit, they’ve shown great resolve to keep on fighting and we pulled it back to lead with under 20 minutes to play at the weekend.”

The 11th-placed Souths Logan face what is an easier opponent on paper, with Tweed Heads sitting 12th on the table but Hannay said his side could not afford to be complacent.

EASTS TIGERS (4th) vs NORTHERN PRIDE (5th) — Sunday, 3pm at Barlow Park

ANOTHER long road trip does not phase the Easts ­Tigers, according to coach Scott Sipple.

The only thing that does is a mounting injury list.

The Tigers will make the trip to Cairns this weekend to take on the Northern Pride on the back of a gutsy 30-18 win over the Wynnum Manly Seagulls at Suzuki Stadium on Sunday in the Intrust Super Cup.

But they will do it without three key players in ­Michael Kai (broken leg), Melbourne Storm affiliated Jeremy Hawkins (hamstring) and Ash Little (achilles).

Sipple even joked he may have to call on the services of assistant coach and former Australian and Queensland centre Darren Smith.

“The focus will be trying to get 17 healthy players on the park,” Sipple said.

“It was tough on Sunday but the courage and spirit the boys showed was ­incredible.

“We still need to really make improvements with our ball handling. I think the problem is we just lack concentration at times and think ahead and that’s when we make errors.”

With wins in Gladstone and Mackay under their belt heading into Round 6, Sipple said his team looked forward to another road trip.

“I don’t think these boys fear playing away at all, I think they actually enjoy it,” he said.

“It’ll be another tough game though and they’re coming off an impressive win on the weekend.

“I think one of the positive things is we’re playing on Sunday and we’ve done that over the past couple of weeks so we’re used to the heat.”