Norths and Souths battle, ‘Gulls looking to win three straight in Round 10 of the Intrust Super Cup

NORTHS Devils and Souths Logan Magpies battle to move up the ladder and Seagulls look for three in a row in Round 10 of the Intrust Super Cup.

Souths Scott Doyle set to return from suspension. Picture: JOSH WONING

THE midweek departure of Brett Greinke to South Sydney has done nothing to help a Norths outfit looking to snap a two-game losing streak in Sunday’s battle with the Souths Logan Magpies in Round 10’s Game of the Week.

Greinke and fellow backrower Jai Arrow were the only Devils to feature in the Queensland Residents’ 30-16 loss to NSW on Sunday, giving their players time to put their feet up before resuming their finals push.

But Arrow will also be missing for the Devils after being named to make his NRL debut with the Brisbane Broncos against Manly on Saturday night.

Mark Gliddon’s men remain just one point outside the top six, but they will need to improve on a last-start 38-4 flogging from Sunshine Coast, while the Souths Logan Magpies will travel to Bishop Park clinging to their finals hopes.

The Magpies are currently 11th on six points, two wins behind sixth-placed Northern Pride on 10 points but have a chance to score their fourth win of the season against Norths.

Josh Hannay will again have to do without the services of Herman Ese’ese and Travis Waddell as the duo have been retained in the Brisbane Broncos NRL side.

Another Broncos player in Jamayne Isaako, fresh off an outing with the Junior Kiwis, is also unavailable for Souths Logan through his duties with the Broncos Under-20s.

But Hannay will welcome back centre Scott Doyle from suspension and Broncos lock Joe Boyce, who returns from a shoulder injury he suffered against Burleigh in Round 6.

With Doyle back, Dan Russell returns to the interchange despite running for a Magpies-high 185m with the ball in hand on the wing last week. Jack Joass slides to fullback, which means captain Phil Dennis will line up alongside Sam Scarlett in the halves and Dan Tamou moves from fullback to lock.

Hannay used the competition bye at the weekend to pore over the statistics and said the Magpies needed to deal with opposition kicks better, particularly on the last tackle.

“One that stood out was that more than 50 per cent of the tries we conceded came from kicks, with many being on the last tackle,” he said.

“I’m not sure whether there is any weakness there under the high ball or if it’s more that some of our guys just switch off a bit mentally.

“Whatever it is, we need to get it sorted and make sure we start cleaning up those opposition kicks.”

Kick-off is 3pm and Round 10 of the Intrust Super Cup is also Indigenous Appreciation Round.

IPSWICH JETS (11th) vs BURLEIGH BEARS — Saturday, 4.15pm at North Ipswich Reserve

IPSWICH co-coach Shane Walker is refusing to push the panic button as the Jets’ Intrust Super Cup premiership defence threatens to spiral out of control.

Sitting 11th with just three wins from nine games, the 2015 champions are battling a growing headache as they prepare for Saturday’s clash with high-flying Burleigh at North Ipswich Reserve.

Their last-start loss to winless Mackay on April 29 compounded their slow start to the season, but Walker insists it is not all doom and gloom.

“We’d obviously like to be further up the ladder (but) it’s a very simple fix. We had the panic button removed before we even started coaching,” Walker said.

“We’ve certainly thrown some games away, which is disappointing. As a whole, we’re certainly scoring enough tries and creating enough opportunities, we’re just going to have to go back and work a bit harder on defence.

“Whether it’s structural or technique (I don’t know). Our overall structure is good but sometimes they’re tries that are scored in a really unforeseeable way, like the bounce of a ball.”

The Northern Pride finished on 32 points to sneak into last season’s top six, but the Jets would have to win 11 of their final 14 games to reach that figure.

Walker admitted the loss of a host of stars from the 2015 side had played a role in this year’s form slide, but said he was not about to start crunching the finals numbers.

“It’s obviously a different team to last year so it’s obvious to suggest there’s going to be different combination (problems) but that hasn’t been a hindrance. It’s been more about each individual and us as coaches getting a good understanding of what certain people bring to the footy team.

“When you start looking at what games you need to win and lose you can definitely be gone. We only ever worry about the next game in front of us.”

Burleigh sits third and held premiership favourite Townsville to a 28-28 draw in its last outing on May 1.

SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS (7th) vs TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS — Sunday, 2pm at Piggabeen Sports Complex

EX-PARAMATTA centre Ryan Morgan will bolster Sunshine Coast Falcons’ backline for Sunday’s match against Tweed Heads Seagulls.

Falcons coach Craig Ingebrigtsen only expects to have his 82-game NRL experience for one week before heading to Melbourne to help fix the Storm’s injury crisis.

Curtis Scott will also play his first senior game since returning from a fractured fibula after his part in the Junior Kangaroos win last weekend.

Ingebrigtsen said he was looking forward to welcoming back more quality players in the coming weeks.

“We’ve got a few more back in the next couple of weeks, which is why I’m really happy with where we are at the moment,” he said.

REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS (4th) vs NORTHERN PRIDE (6th) — Sunday, 1.40pm at Barlow Park (Channel 9)

THE heat will be on Redcliffe Dolphins players in more ways than one this Sunday against Northern Pride.

The Dolphins have a 5-3 win-loss record going into the fixture, but coach Adam Mogg said his team was good enough to have an 8-0 ledger by this stage of the season.

Redcliffe’s completion rate has hovered around 50 per cent in each of their three losses.

Mogg said the squad had lifted a cog at training this week in anticipation of a tough contest in the Cairns heat and humidity.

“It won’t be as hot as it was in PNG obviously and it looks like it might even rain as well then if you’re doing a lot of tackling it makes it difficult to hold the footy,” he said.

Aaron Whitchurch has been ruled out with a knee injury suffered while playing for Queensland Residents last weekend and is expected to be sidelined for up to two weeks.

Mogg will choose a replacement to travel to Cairns after the final training session tonight.

WYNNUM MANLY SEAGULLS (13th) vs MACKAY CUTTERS (14th) — Sunday, 3pm at BMD Kougari Oval

THE season almost looked gone for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls a month ago.

But a win against the Mackay Cutters at BMD Kougari Oval on Sunday will draw them closer to the possibility of jumping into the top six.

The Seagulls, one of the early premiership favourites, started the season with six straight losses before consecutive wins on the road against Ipswich and the Northern Pride.

After another week off to rest niggling injuries due to the representative weekend, Wynnum Manly coach Jon Buchanan said the team was excited to return home with the possibility of winning its third straight game.

A victory over the last-placed Cutters will have the Seagulls within striking distance of the top six. Two-time premiership halfback Matthew Seamark returns to the side and replaces Matthew Smith while Brisbane Broncos contracted backrower Adam Tuimavave-Gerrard makes his debut for the Seagulls.

Wynnum Manly utility Mitch Cronin will take his spot in the side on Sunday, after representing the Queensland Residents team in its 30-16 loss to NSW at Langlands Park at the weekend.