Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Easts Tigers prepare for assault on Intrust Super Cup title

INTRUST Super Cup powerhouses Wynnum Manly and Easts both have their eyes firmly on the prize as they prepare for season kick-off this weekend.

Pat Templeman at Wynnum Manly Rugby League Club - Picture: Richard Walker

A  SEVENTH premiership cup will sit in the Wynnum Manly Seagulls trophy cabinet at the end of this year’s Intrust Super Cup season, according to the new captain and 2015 Courier Mail Medallist Patrick Templeman.

With new additions and key players returning, Wynnum Manly will start their campaign for a third title in six years against the Burleigh Bears at BMD Kougari Oval on Sunday.

Templeman said the whole team believed they would deliver another premiership to the bayside.

“Every team at this point of the season thinks they can win it but the self-belief with this group is really high,” he said.

“We definitely have a squad capable of doing it and it’s something I have never been able to do in football so it’s a huge motivation.”

After taking over from Tim Natusch as skipper, Templeman said having experienced veterans around him made the job a lot easier heading into round one.

Templeman also said he wanted to improve on his impressive debut season with the Seagulls.

“I want to have a huge year and show that I was a deserving winner of that award,” he said.

Mitchell Cronin.

“I can’t wait for the start of the season, especially since we’re playing at home. There’s nothing better than playing at Kougari on a Sunday afternoon in front of the Chook Pen.”

Seagulls coach Jon Buchanan also identified new recruit Mitchell Cronin as their “x-factor” heading into round one.

“He does have the talent and skill to be able to turn some heads on the field,” ­Buchanan said.

“Mitch has good size for a hooker, he runs the ball well and really backs himself and on top of that has some good speed as well.

“He definitely adds a lot to our group and I’m not bagging the other guys we have in that position, he just adds a bit more x-factor for us.

“He was probably the best player on the field against the Broncos a couple of weeks ago.

“He will start at No. 9 with probably Mitchell Moore coming off the bench.”

Cronin is a Souths junior, who spent a number of ­seasons in the Canberra Raiders’ under-20s and NRL squads.

Easts Tigers Intrust Super Cup coach Scott Sipple. Picture: PETER CRONIN

CROSS-TOWN rivals the Easts Tigers also believe they can build on their success from recent years but coach Scott Sipple wants to fix the club’s alarming trend of bad starts in the competition.

Easts have been notoriously poor starters in the competition in recent years, including in 2013 and 2014 when they made back-to-back grand finals.

But Sipple said the issue was something the team had discussed in their preparations for season kick-off against Tweed Heads at Piggabeen Sports Complex on Sunday.

“We’ve had some meetings where we have set some goals and getting off to a good start was one of the main things we want to do,” he said.

“Everyone knows we haven’t started the season off well in past years but we want to change that.

“We want to set a goal for wins in the first seven games and see if we reach that, if we do, we know we’re on track for a good season.”

Despite losing all three trial matches to Ipswich, Sunshine Coast and Redcliffe, Sipple said he was happy with the progress of the Tigers.

The rookie head coach, who has led the club’s reserve grade side to three premierships from 2012, also announced Hogan would ­remain skipper, with Shane Neumann vice-captain and Zgrajewski as club captain.

Starting the season with a road game would be daunting for a lot of teams but ­Sipple said the Tigers saw it as another challenge.

“We’re good at home and we haven’t been that great on the road in the past and that’s another thing we want to change,” he said.

“If you can get some wins on the road, it helps build a lot of confidence.”