Coomera coach Steve Macdonald says players must fight for spots, despite Mudgee thrashing

THE Coomera outfit that demolished Mudgeeraba 6-0 on Sunday has been warned to take nothing for granted as coach Steve Macdonald confronts a welcome headache.

THE Coomera outfit that demolished Mudgeeraba 6-0 on Sunday has been warned to take nothing for granted as coach Steve Macdonald confronts a welcome headache.

Led by doubles from Michael Townsend and Canadian recruit Payden Pemberton, the Colts made the biggest statement of the Premier League’s opening round to put Mudgeeraba to the sword at Viney Park.

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The result underlined the improved depth of last year’s surprise packets, who were forced to play Premier League squad members Dalton Riley, Matt Kurtz, James Briscoe and Josh Shin in reserves.

And with Mitch Robinson and Michael Enubje set to return from injury for Saturday’s trip to Palm Beach, Macdonald has a selection conundrum on his hands.

Coomera’s Daniel Abreu turns Mudgeeraba’s Matt Hibbs inside out at Viney Park on Sunday. Picture: Mike Batterham

“The boys understand they’ve got to play every single week for their spot,” said Macdonald, who defied expectations to steer Coomera to a respectable sixth-placed finish last season.

“We had four prem boys playing reserves this week and we’ve still got a couple of injuries to come back next week so we’re a lot stronger in depth than we were last season.

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“I said before we went out (against Mudgeeraba) ‘let’s be intense, let’s get right in their faces’ because that’s how I want to play this season. But the thing that probably pleased me more than anything was … our intensity levels never dropped.

Coomera’s Angus Hughes takes on Mudgeeraba’s Anthony Blyde. Picture: Mike Batterham

“Rather than building from our own 18-yard box we were building from the halfway line.”

Expected to challenge for this year’s top four with their young squad, Palm Beach were far from disgraced in a 3-1 loss to Burleigh Heads on Saturday.

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Macdonald said their Round 2 battle at Duncan McKenna Field shaped as “an extremely difficult clash”.

“They only just got beat by Burleigh. I know they’ve got a few older heads in this year, which I think is vital to go with the younger boys.

“We need to take confidence from (the win) into next week and build into that.”