This weekend’s Round 3 Intrust Super Cup Round doubles as Rivalry round, as local battles and new rivalries feature up and down the coast.
From the two north Queensland sides facing off, through a Central Queensland head to head, passing by a bunch of intra Brisbane rivalries, and down to the Gold Coast, there’s something for everyone. And a big game in PNG of course.
To get into the mood we offer up our Round 3 Intrust Super Cup Predictions and Preview.
There’s a brief rundown of each game, a bit about betting, broadcasting, and more.
Most importantly, we have the CEO of main sponsor Intrust Super Brendan O’Farrell giving us his tips each week.
If you don’t yet have an Intrust Super Cup team, then take our Personality Quiz.
And the TV game is thankfully back to Sunday afternoon. Where it belongs.
ROUND 3 INTRUST SUPER CUP TIPPING – ARE YOU SMARTER THAN SUPER BOF?
Fancy yourself an Intrust Super Cup tipping guru. Reckon you’re better than the CEO of Intrust Super yourself? Find out his Round 3 Intrust Super Cup tips below, and submit your via our Twitter or Facebook page.
BRENDAN O’FARRELL (CEO of Intrust Super)
EASTS TIGERS to beat Ipswich Jets
MACKAY CUTTERS to beat Central Capras
NORTHERN PRIDE to beat Townsville Blackhawks
WYNNUM SEAGULLS to beat Redcliffe Dolphins
BURLEIGH BEARS to beat Tweed Heads Seagulls
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES to beat Norths Devils
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS to beat PNG Hunters
SEASON PROGRESS 7/14
THE GURGLER’s TIPS (Us)
NORTHERN PRIDE to beat Townsville Blackhawks
EASTS TIGERS to beat Ipswich Jets
MACKAY CUTTERS to beat Central Capras
WYNNUM SEAGULLS to beat Redcliffe Dolphins
BURLEIGH BEARS to beat Tweed Heads Seagulls
NORTHS DEVILS to beat Souths Logan Magpies
SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS to beat PNG Hunters
SEASON PROGRESS 8/14
Follow our weekly Twitter post to add your selections.
ROUND 3 INTRUST SUPER CUP – MINI PREVIEW
Here’s a quick rundown on all things Round 3 Intrust Super Cup and our thoughts for all of the games this weekend.
The full Team Lists for Round 3 can be found at the QRL Website.
NORTHERN PRIDE v TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS
Saturday 6:00pm
The Northern Pride have started the season with two straight wins, and over the last tow Intrust Super Cup premiers no less. They face the Townsville Blackhawks in Round 3 Intrust Super Cup rivalry weekend, a side that they finally managed to beat last year after three years of failed attempts, and did the double over them.
Both sides are feeder clubs to the North Queensland Cowboys, and while the Blackhawks have the quantity with a side with more big names and former NRL players, the Pride have the quality with halfback Jake Clifford. Clifford was one of the stars of the Intrust Super Cup last season, and it was widely thought he would graduate full-time to the Cowboys in 2019. That hasn’t happened yet, and the Pride are reaping the rewards for now.
Townsville were surprised last weekend at Piggabeen, going to the Seagulls who handled the wet conditions better. With a cyclone crossing nearby in far north Queensland, one wonders if there might be some more wet conditions this weekend. The Blackhawks are still one win from two games, but face a third consecutive loss to the Pride, which could see them playing catch up to the near neighbour.
2018: R3 Townsville 6 Pride 26 — R16 Pride 13 Townsville 10
Betting: N/A
IPSWICH JETS v EASTS TIGERS
Saturday 6:00pm
Things aren’t looking good for Ipswich after two rounds, no wins in the first two games, have conceded 20 more points than any other side, and sit last in the Intrust Super Cup ladder. Early days of course, and plenty of time to turn things around, but the return of just 14 points scored in two games is well below such an attacking side.
Easts Tigers are doing what they always do, and that is compete in the top half. They saw off Mackay comfortably enough in Round 1, and were similarly in control at Bishop Park last weekend against Norths. They sit top of the table, scoring five tries to two in both games, and if anything their squad is not quite as strong as last year, so the 100% start will do nicely.
Barely interesting is that Easts scored the same amount of points in both games last season, with a 2 point win and loss the record.
2018: R3 Easts 26 Ipswich 32 — Ipswich 24 Easts 26
MACKAY CUTTERS v CENTRAL CAPRAS
Saturday 7:30pm
Central Queensland’s best is on show in Mackay on Saturday night, as the winless Cutters take on the Capras who came back down to earth after their big first round win over the Magpies with a loss at home to Wynnum.
Mackay pushed Souths Logan in their loss last Saturday night, they led 14-0 after half an hour, but by the completion of 60 minutes were down 22-14 after a run of MAgpies tries. A late try made the scoreline interesting. Mackay haven’t been badly beaten in their first two games, but this is an opportunity to get their season going by beating the Capras.
Central Capras were always chasing the game against Wynnum, who had too much firepower in their game in Rockhampton, winning seven tries to three. Not that the Capras don’t have something, only four sides have scored more points this season so far. For the casual viewer Dave Taylor is named on the bench.
2018: R3 Mackay 18 Central 16 — R16 Central 20 Mackay 6
WYNNUM SEAGULLS v REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS
Sunday 12:10pm – TV GAME
The contest for Brisbane’s best bayside club continues in this weekend’s Rivalry round, with Redcliffe currently holding the Bayside Herald Cup after winning both games in 2018.
Redcliffe’s defence of their 2018 title hasn’t started well, with losses to Northern P:ride and the Sunshine Coast last weekend in the James Ackerman Cup. The 30-6 home defeat was one of the worst in recent seasons.
Wynnum come into Round 2 Intrust Super Cup with a 1-1 record, narrowly going down in Round on the Sunshine Coast before a comfortable win in Rockhampton last Saturday night. The Seagulls have currently scored the second highest amount of points in two games with 60 points so far. For PNG fans, fullback Edene Gebbie was among the try scorers. How the Hunters probably wish they had that spark.
Surely Redcliffe can’t start the season with 0-3?
2018: R3 Wynnum 20 Redcliffe 36 — R16 Redcliffe 50 Wynnum 18
BURLEIGH BEARS v TWEED HEADS SEAGULLS
Sunday 2:00pm
The battle for Gold Coast’s premier Intrust Super Cup side will be decided on Sunday at Pizzey Park, and the Tweed Heads Seagulls will be hoping for a rare win over their more northerly neighbours.
Tweed Heads head into the game as one of four unbeaten sides left after two rounds, having surprisingly beaten the Townsville Blackhawks for the first time in Sunday’s very wet TV game. Having beaten Townsville and PNG Hunters to start the season, confidence should be high to get one over their recently more successful rivals.
Burleigh thrashed Ipswich last week 42-8, with Anthony Don scoring two tries on a visit to the Intrust Super Cup with Burleigh, and Troy Leo adding another try to make it three for he season. Dylan Phythian looked the best for the Bears on Saturday against Ipswich.
A good mix of established and up and coming Intrust Super Cup players with the occasional former NRL player
2018: R3 Tweed Heads 12 Burleigh 32 — Burleigh 34 Tweed Heads 16
SOUTHS LOGAN MAGPIES v NORTH DEVILS
Sunday 3:00pm
A classic north v south match on a Sunday afternoon for rivalry round, which is perfectly placed to attract a decent crowd at Davies Park despite Brisbane people’s reluctance to know about what’s on the other side of the river.
Both sides head into the match with a win and a loss, the Magpies making it a 50% record against Central Queensland team after beating Mackay last weekend, but being well beaten at home to Central Capras in Round 1. Norths got past Burleigh impressively last weekend, but again came unstuck at home to the Easts Tigers last weekend.
Norths could be without one of the best players in Gehamat Shibasaki who is looking like getting an NRL call up depending on James Roberts. They still have recent Broncos signing Sean O’Sullivan calling the shots at halfback, waiting for his NRL crack. Nixon Putt, who has been a great signing has had a lot of success at Davies Park where the PNG Hunters were never beaten.
Souths Logan probably have the slightly stronger forward pack as a whole, featuring Sam Tagataese, who starred for Norths last year.
PNG HUNTERS v SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS
Sunday 3:00pm
Not a great start to the season for the PNG Hunters in 2019, two games, two losses, and not even two points scored yet. For a side that went through their entire existence in the Intrust Super Cup from 2014 without failing to score, two games in a row is hard to believe.
The lack of scoring has led to a few changes for this weekend’s clash with the Falcons, with a familiar name in Oti Tony playing fullback in a straight swap with exciting prospect Joe Joshua moving into the centres. Charlie Simon moves to hooker as Justin Yoka gets a chance to change the Hunters fortunes. The forward pack sees a welcome return to the starting side for Stanton Albert, who with Moses Meninga and Enock Maki provide a big engine for the team if they are all firing.
PNG Hunters have never been all about attack though, despite their many great attacking weapons, their defence has won them many games in the past, especially in their premiership season. So looking at a silver lining for PNG so far this season, they have only conceded 36 points, which is the sixth lowest amount in the competition. Certainly something to build on when they get the attack right.
The Sunshine Coast Falcons have an excellent record against the Hunters on the Sunshine Coast, but less so in PNG. Although they were cheeky enough to knock out the Hunters in the 2016 Finals series in Port Moresby. Their centre pairing of Jonathon Rueben and PNG International Justin Olam will ensure that the Falcons won’t be shy of points we think.
A big game for the Hunters, and a win with a good haul of points is much-needed. They haven’t scored in over three hours, if you go back to the last game of the 2018 season.
2018: R3 Falcons 24 PNG 10 — R16 PNG 24 Falcons 12
