IT is Local derby day in the Pineapple Hotel Cup on Saturday with two important matches, one of them with definite overtones of a top-three finish, the other with definite overtones of a wooden spoon.
By Terry Wilson
Gold Coast Bulletin
At the top of the double is the match between Palm Beach-Currumbin and Surfers Paradise at Salk Oval.
At the bottom end, Burleigh host Coolangatta at Bill Godfrey Oval in a battle that will most likely determine the fate of the wooden spoon.
SURFERS Paradise have to snap an 11-match losing run against Palm Beach-Currumbin, five of those losses at Salk Oval, venue of Saturday’s derby.
PBC are third on the ladder, the Demons are fifth six points behind with a game in hand and if they can win will move to within two points of the Lions and with a game against Springwood in hand.
But PBC have a five-year dominance of the Demons, winning every game since late in the 2006 season.
Not that statistics mean much to PBC coach Daryn Cresswell, who says those results are a thing of the past and had nothing to do with him or the majority of the current crop of Lions.
“All I know is that they’re a pretty good side,” said Cresswell.
“Let’s not forget they beat Noosa and let’s not forget they went down by only a couple of goals to Western Magpies.
“But we’re at full strength, bar Mick Atkinson, so we’ll have no excuses and we’re ready to go.
“I rate this as an eight-point game because Surfers, with their washout are, in reality, only two points behind us.”
The Lions have Angus Munro, Jake Smart, Jackson Emblem, Aaron Lohrey and David Manning all back in action. That represents a pretty talented crew.
The Demons also have a number of changes, bringing back key position utility Kris Rizzo, defender Chris Haddock, wingman James Nancarrow, ruckman Nick Barling, full-forward Korey Fulton and half-forward Clint Cassidy.
There are question marks over Fulton who will be given a late fitness test.
The last time the sides clashed, in the second round, PBC were six goals up at three-quarter time, but fell in by seven points. Since then the Lions have melted against top sides Noosa and Western Magpies when the blowtorch was applied.
That is a point not missed by Surfers coach Beau Zorko.
“It is very important that we start well tomorrow,” he said, mindful of not giving away a start this time.
Surfers have a security blanket in the fact that Sandgate, sixth on 24 points, are playing Western Magpies this weekend and a win there would be a major upset.
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THE simple fact that nobody wants a wooden spoon is the chief motivator at Bill Godfrey Oval where Coolangatta travel to play Burleigh.
The once dominant sides of the competition have only one win between them. Coolangatta are 11th on standings after one win, but with a poor percentage of 24.9, and they are ahead of Burleigh, no wins and percentage of 38.3.
So a Bomber win would put them ahead of the Blues and, given the form of both sides, would almost certainly hand the spoon to their south Coast rivals.
Asked how he will go about getting his players fired up, Burleigh coach Zane Doubleday said: “It’s a tough one. If the club wins we most likely won’t finish bottom on the ladder, but again if we lose, we’ll probably get it.
“It is a big day for the club. We’ll be wearing pink jumpers for breast cancer fundraising and it’d be nice if we can celebrate with our first win of the season.”
When the sides last met, Coolangatta won by 10 points under lights in round two.
It would be an interesting exercise to compare sides from that night to tomorrow. Unquestionably neither list would be similar.
Coolangatta coach Neil McKay, who has confirmed he will not be reapplying for the Blues job because he is travelling overseas in 2013, was asked about the threat of the wooden spoon.
“You won’t be surprised by my answer,” he said. “No one wants it.
“Both teams have been starved for success and this one gives us the opportunity to sing the club song. Between us that has happened only once this season.”
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. The local Derby on the Sunshine Coast sees a far more disciplined and confident Maroochydore hot off their draw with Surfers Paradise last week come up against arch rivals Noosa.
The Tigers form has been impressive over the last few rounds although they have had periods where they seem to lose concentration and allow teams to get back in the game.
A big test for the Roos defence will be their ability to hold Danny Brewster to a small bag of goals; last time they played he kicked 7 but is capable of a lot more.
The ruck combination of Jed Turner, Jack Gale and Kane Tyson have been in excellent form recently however they come up against and equally talented trio of Stephen Simpson, Caleb Isles and Aaron Laskey, the combination that comes out on top will have a big influence on the game.
The Tigers should win but it will be a lot closer than last time
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Mayne play Wilston Grange at Everton in a game that is vital for their chances of make the finals, 6 points out of the five a loss here would virtually end their run at the finals.
Wilston Grange need to win for them to be a realistic chance of making the top 3 earning a double chance.
When they last played the game was a lot closer that most pundits expected, both clubs have 8 new players in this rounds line-up than in round 2.
After last week’s loss to Springwood Tiger Coach Mitch Ferguson said, “Getting into the finals is not my main worry at the moment, I just want to break this month long losing streak.
The Gorillas look to have a well balanced line up and will start Hot Favourites in the game.
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Sandgate are in a similar position to Mayne, they must win to keep in touch with the 5 but they have drawn the short straw this having to play League Leaders the Western Magpies.
The boys from Sherwood are on a 9 game winning streak and on paper look like they will continue their run.
The Hawks go into the game with 12 players who were not in the team that lost by 95 pts on the 21st April and following their confidence boosting win against the Blues last round should be far more competitive this time around.
