QCUP Round 12: BURLEIGH BEARS v WYNNUM MANLY

BURLEIGH BEARS v WYNNUM MANLY
Saturday, June 5 ? 2pm* Live on ABC TV - Pizzey Park

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Burleigh will attempt to get its 2010 campaign back on track after two poor performances. Last week?s 20-6 loss came hot on the heels of a 40-point drubbing by the Sunshine Coast.

In an unusual situation, Bears centre Steve Michaels runs out against Wynnum Manly, the side he played eight games for this year. Michaels is now dual signed with the Bears after a mid-season switch to the Gold Coast Titans from the Brisbane Broncos. In the head to head stakes, the Wynnum Manly Seagulls hold the edge with 13 wins to nine. Three games have been drawn, including the historic 0-0 round 1 result at BMD Kougari Oval this year. Burleigh will be without forward Bodene Thompson, who has been suspended for one match for striking.

Burleigh Bears
1. Nick Parfitt 2. Germaine Paulson 3. Steve Michaels 4. Chad Grintell 5. Nathan Ross 6. Murray Emmerson 7. Brent McConnell 8. Kale Burton 9. Scott Smith 10. Dayne Weston 11. Riley Brown 12. Martin Griese 13. Matt Pow

14. Brett O’Farrell 15. Bodene Thompson 16. Jimmy Anderson 17. Kurt Sorensen

Coach: Mark Gee

Wynnum Manly Seagulls
1. Jake Granville 2. Shea Moylan 3. Sam Te’o 4. Jon Grieve 5. Shaun Cotter 6. John Peterson 7. Matt Seamark 8. Tim Natusch 9. Aoterangi Herangi 10. Willie Scanlan 11. Jack Afamasaga 12. Darren Bain 13. Luke Dalziel-Don

14. Ben Shea 15. Hanan Laban 16. Chris Birch 17. Brett Thomas

Coach: Paul Green

Referee: Justin Davis

This is on ABC TV this Saturday at 2pm!!

Bodene Thompson is unfortunately out for a week for his involvement in an onfield fight.

Which is disappointing for Titans fans and Burleigh fans.

Bears burly in pink

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Burleigh Bears players Kurt Sorensen flanked by Kale Burton, left, and Chad Grintell geared up in pink for breast cancer awareness Picture: Mike Batterham

THE Burleigh Bears are hoping a mid-season makeover will help them snap out of a worrying form slump when they tackle Wynnum Manly at Pizzey Park today.

Dumping the traditional maroon and white for hot pink jerseys to raise funds for breast cancer as part of the club's annual Pink Day Out, the Bears are determined to celebrate the special occasion by muscling back into the winner's circle after back-to-back losses.

"It is really important for us confidence-wise," said Burleigh coach Mark Gee.

"We had a really good month previous to the last two weeks but we have just been a little bit off the ball.

"We weren't too far off the mark last week in Cairns.

"We did have a loss but it was up against a good side in difficult circumstances.

"We are pretty confident we can take the next step forward this week and get the right result."

Last week's 20-6 loss against the Northern Pride followed a 40-point flogging from the Sunshine Coast.

After playing out the first 0-0 draw in Queensland Cup history in Round 1, the Bears and Wynnum will meet for the second time this season.

Interestingly, Bears centre Steve Michaels will face his former Wynnum teammates for the first time since signing an NRL deal with the Titans last week.

Michaels last played for the Brisbane Broncos-aligned Wynnum just a fortnight ago, scoring a try in the Seagulls 30-24 win over Redcliffe.

"He was solid for us in his first game last week," said Gee.

"He had a pretty big week, a bit of a whirlwind week but he went up there and did a good job for us."

The Bears will be without halfback Brent McConnell, who is facing up to three weeks on the sidelines with an injured toe.

In a further blow, backrower Bodene Thompson has been suspended for a week for striking after a fight with Pride prop Jaiman Lowe.

Murray Emmerson will shift into the No.7, with Richie Williams earning a reserve grade reprieve to line up at five-eighth.

Towering 194cm, 107kg forward Tanu Wulf is over a hamstring injury and after a few games in reserved grade replaces Thompson.

"Tanu has struggled with a hamstring injury this season and has now had a few games back in reserve grade," said Gee.

"He was good for us last year and will add a fair bit of size to our back row in particular."

The Tweed Heads Seagulls will be boosted by the return of captain Brad Davis when they travel to Redcliffe to take on the Dolphins tomorrow.

IN THE XXXX Challenge Cup, Gold Coast Vikings coach Sam Stewart has pulled out all stops preparing his players for their tough clash tonight with Townsville in the Queensland final.

The Vikings had to dig deep to beat Toowoomba 24-20 in golden point time in their semi-final last Saturday when centre Ricky Dodd scored three tries, including the match winner.

Now they catch a bus to Brisbane today and fly to Townsville for the state final which kicks off at 6pm, with the winner to play the NSW divisional champion in a curtain-raiser before Origin 2.

Then they fly back to the Gold Coast at noon before turning out for their clubs in the Bycroft Cup.

"The players will have a big day on Saturday before they even get to the ground and that is why we had a run on Wednesday night with no training for Friday night because I want their legs to be as fresh as possible," said Stewart.

"Last weekend we played nearly 100 minutes with golden point.

"While we didn't need the extra time for fitness the match was good for our patience because usually when the match is close the arm wrestle lasts about 30 minutes but this arm wrestle was about 60 or 70 minutes.

"It was good for our patience and mental approach because we had to stick to the game plan and wait for opportunities because Toowoomba was a good team."

Stewart named a 19-man squad saying he wanted to wait as long as possible to finalise his team because some players still had niggling injuries from all the tough matches they have been playing.

"We will have John Flint back which is a bonus because he is a good leader," he said.

"We have some talented footballers with our halves Paul Rolls and Cody Walker great in both attack and defence and our bench has proven they can win matches."

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au