Nat Barnes to bring up 100th game!
Barnes to bring up 100th game
TWEED Heads try-scoring machine Nat Barnes will celebrate his 100th game for the Seagulls when they clash with fellow Gold Coast Titans feeder club Ipswich in the Queensland Cup at Piggabeen tomorrow.
The 28-year-old will become just the sixth Seagull to reach the prestigious milestone, joining Tim Maccan, James Wood, Selasi Berdie, Brad Davis and Matt King.
All six are members of the 2007 premiership side and have been pivotal to the table-topping Tweed's unbeaten start to the year.
"It says something for the club that all of the guys who have played 100 games for the club are still there playing," Barnes said.
"There is no talk of that (winning another premiership this year), everyone is just enjoying playing footy at the moment.
"We are focussing on what needs to be done each week.
"We have got an incredibly talented bunch of guys.
"If everyone is in tune with what they need to do and enjoying themselves then that leads to these sort of results we are seeing."
Flying winger Barnes is in career-best form this season with 11 tries from the first eight games, to cement his status as the competitions' best finisher.
It is an incredible comeback for Barnes, who after a stint with South Sydney in 2008 and 2009, enjoyed a season away from rugby league last year.
"I guess I have a different out look on the game and on life and I am just playing with a lot more freedom," he said.
"I am really enjoying things.
"It has been great to get back into it after the time off."
Tweed are closing in on a record-breaking start to a season, with only Toowoomba (10 in 2001) and Burleigh (9 in 1999) kicking off a campaign with more consecutive wins.
The Burleigh Bears have meanwhile named an unchanged side for when they travel to Wynnum Manly tomorrow.
Brisbane Bronco forward Ben Te'o is set to start with Wynnum Manly after a long lay-off with an arm injury.
Burleigh will be aiming for their 200th win in the Queensland Cup in their 322nd game.
The last time these two teams met at Kougari Oval was in Round 1 last year, which resulted in a 0-0 draw.
Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au
