RUGBY LEAGUE Brothers face test of depth

BROTHERS will have their club depth put to the ultimate test in tomorrow’s top- of- thetable clash with Herbert River in Ingham.

The Crushers and Brothers share top spot on the A grade Townsville and Districts Rugby League ladder after eight rounds, meaning tomorrow’s winner will hit the outright lead.

Brothers know they face a tough ask of getting Herbert River’s measure in Ingham, where they play for the first time this year.

The in- form quartet of Cade Maloney, Nathan Norford, Matt Laumea and Tremayne Bowie will be unavailable because of Northern Marlins duty, while Tennyson Elliott ( injury) and Roy Baira ( Marlins coaching) will also miss the Round 9 blockbuster.

The pacesetters met in Round 2 at Jack Manski Oval and Brothers handed the Crushers their only loss of the season to date, winning 36- 10.

“We have six high quality players unavailable, so it’s definitely going to be a challenge and our depth will get tested,” Brothers coach Dave Ackers said.

“But we won’t be travelling to Ingham to Ingham to lose.

“We had a lot of players out early in the year and we won our first five games, and one of the big strengths of our club is our depth.”

Ackers will count on experienced heads like Brenn Foster and Jack Kelleher to keep Brothers in the grind against Herbert River, who came back from a 22- 4 deficit last weekend against Centrals to win 24- 22.

Brothers endured a seasonfirst loss to Burdekin recently and then came close to being overrun by University, but turned things around last weekend with a comprehensive 52- 6 win against Charters Towers.

“That was huge for us and it was a big day for us as a club with the Donna Stevenson Shield, so it was a great occasion for us to focus,” Ackers said.

“But in saying that we have a completely different team this weekend and it’s a whole new challenge.” TDRL Round 9: Today: 5.30pm Burdekin, Peggy Park.

Tomorrow: 3pm Herbert River v Brothers, Ingham; 3pm University v Charters Towers, Joe Baker Field; 4pm Lions v Centrals, Townsville Sports Reserve. Norths v Banfield