Meskell return close for Seagulls

INCUMBENT Tweed Heads skipper Sam Meskell is likely to return to the paddock on Saturday but key forwards Lamar Liolevave and Shane Gillham won’t be back until Round 1 at best.

The trio have battled niggling pre-season injuries, with 2017 fringe half Jack Cook also racing the clock for their Intrust Super Cup opener against Norths on March 11.

Seagulls coach Ben Woolf is resigned to not having his best side on deck until a few rounds into the year when Jarrod Wallace and Keegan Hipgrave return to the Titans, freeing up players to drop back to the ISC.

“We’ll be closer (this weekend against Burleigh) to what we will look like in Round 1 but I don’t think we will be full strength,” Woolf said.

“By the time Round 3 comes around, it will be the closest we will be to full strength.

“Once Hipgrave and Wallace have served their suspensions (and return to the Titans) we will have a few guys filter back.

“Our squad will change a bit, which isn’t a bad thing.”