Bears not copying 2016 plan
FRESH off inking a new deal and blessed with the return of a healthy roster, Jimmy Lenihan has declared Burleigh will go about their business differently to the way they achieved their 2016 Intrust Super Cup premiership.
The Bears embraced an open game style in their title year, conceding upwards of 21 points a game but scoring almost 30 points on average.
Last year quickly became a write-off with injuries depleting their list but Burleigh are back to looking dangerous ahead of a Round 1 clash with Sunshine Coast tomorrow.
In the side named to face the Falcons, they have: 271 NRL games of experience across eight players; seven of their premiership winners; Test experience including captain Luke Page’s seven games for Papua New Guinea; and Titans young gun Jai Whitbread.
But Lenihan, who has signed until the end of 2020, said they won’t try to replicate previous methods for success.
“We’re probably looking to play a little bit differently this year,” he said.
“We’ve had the same sort of people for a little while now, which is a good thing, and I think sometimes just changing it up a little bit just keeps everything fresh.
“It would be boring and silly for us to play the same way and blokes would do their job halfheartedly thinking that they know what they are doing all the time. “It has been good to change it up … blokes are working really hard to improve on what they have got to do to be better.”
The highly rated Falcons have been installed by Ladbrokes as $1.44 favourites for the Sunshine Coast Stadium showdown.