Gold Coast’s Intrust Super Cup coaches pleased with pre-season preparations ahead of Round 1

THE Coast’s Intrust Super Cup coaches are happy with their preparations despite mixed results in the final pre-season trials at the weekend.

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THE Coast’s Intrust Super Cup coaches are happy with their preparations despite mixed results in the final pre-season trials at the weekend.

Burleigh beat Sunshine Coast 30-24 in the curtain-raiser to Saturday’s NRL trial at Pizzey Park and while coach Jim Lenihan was slightly disappointed his team allowed the Falcons back into the game in the second half after forging a 24-6 half-time lead, the match allowed him to give his entire squad a run.

“Probably that was a little bit disappointing,’’ Lenihan said of the Falcons’ second-half comeback. “But we created plenty of chances with the ball in the first half and probably the second half we just lost our way and I think ball control was an issue.’’

But Lenihan has seen enough in the past few weeks to suggest the Bears will field one of the strongest sides when the competition kicks off in a fortnight.

“I think we’ve probably got the best group we’ve had for a little while,’’ he said.

“We’ve got some good blokes and a lot of them have either been at Burleigh and played some professional level football or are coming back from a professional system.

“Their experience is invaluable to make sure that they lead the way at training and bring the other people up to speed – not just in training but in the way they professionally hold themselves off the field by looking after themselves.’’

The Bears boast players with experience in NRL systems, including Kurtis Rowe, Pat Politoni and Luke Page.

“Whether they’ve been at the bottom end of those roles or not, they’ve all been exposed to it so it’s only the better for us and our training that we try and use that as much of an advantage as we can.’’

Tweed Seagulls coach Aaron Zimmerle also has several experienced players who helped his team to a 10-4 halftime lead against Wynnum before the home side hit back to win 28-10 after Tweed made several replacements.

“For us, that’s OK. We’re probably more looking at what we were when we put our best squad together,’’ Zimmerle said.

Like Burleigh, Tweed have several experienced players on their roster, including former Titan Sam Irwin, who managed to lead the team around the park well.

“Sam Irwin was outstanding once again,’’ Zimmerle said.

“I thought he was probably the pick of the players when we went across and played the New Zealand trial as well so he’s backed that up.

“He’s just really confident at the moment, he’s not contracted any longer to an NRL side so he’s just playing football for the sake of playing football and there’s a real composure about what he’s done.’’

Originally published as Gold Coast’s Intrust Super Cup coaches pleased with pre-season preparations ahead of Round 1