Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin

Nick says Gulls will be on him like a chip

- CONNOR O’BRIEN CONNOR.O’BRIEN@NEWS.COM.AU

NICK Harrold is counting on a hostile reception when he squares off with his former Wynnum Manly teammates at North Stradbroke Island tomorrow.

Harrold joined Tweed Heads from their Seagulls rivals in the off-season and has not had to wait long for the big showdown, which will be televised from 12.40pm.

“I think a couple of them will be a bit hostile but at the end of the day we’re all great mates,” the 24-year-old said.

“They’ll be looking for me out there, that’s for sure.”

But the lock, who stands only at 178cm and 95kg, is ready to return fire and capitalise on his inside knowledge of the opposition.

Wynnum Manly are expected to field NRL veteran David Mead in the centres.

Their revamped squad, including 127-game NRL half Travis Burns and former Sydney Roosters back-rower Mitchell Frei, are unbeaten from two starts while Tweed are 0-2.

“They’ve won their first two games based on their defence so our attack needs to be on song,” said Harrold, who played at Tugun as a junior and made his Queensland Cup debut for Burleigh.

“We have worked really hard this week on our attacking shape and we’re going to have to penetrate their line if we are going to go close to beating them.”

Tweed have created plenty of opportunit­ies in the opening rounds but have struggled to turn those into points, putting pressure on their defence.

They will welcome back aggressive forwards Kurt Bernard and Dane Clarke while Brayden McGrady will make his debut on the wing.

The 20-year-old will link up on the right edge with cousin Lindon McGrady, who has switched to five-eighth with Talor Walters moving to fullback.

Today, Burleigh will play the Central Queensland Capras in Rockhampto­n as both sides search for their first competitio­n points of the season.

It’s the Capras’ third straight game at Browne Park.

The Bears have made two forced changes to replace Titans debutant Tyler Cornish and the unlucky Jeff Lynch, who has been confirmed to have a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear in his knee. Young playmaker Sam Grant returns to the No.7 jersey while hooker Chris Law comes on to the bench.

Coach Jimmy Lenihan is placing an emphasis on his side’s performanc­e rather than outcome.

“Winning or losing this weekend probably doesn’t ruin our season but moving forward in our performanc­e and getting better in the structures we want to put in place with people individual­ly controllin­g the team probably is a little bit more important,” he said.

“We always go out to try to win but we’ve got a lot of things to try to work on, to just improve on what we’re doing.”

 ?? Picture: WENDY VAN DEN AKKER ?? Nick Harrold in action for his former club in a match between Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Tweed Heads Seagulls at Piggabeen oval,
Picture: WENDY VAN DEN AKKER Nick Harrold in action for his former club in a match between Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Tweed Heads Seagulls at Piggabeen oval,

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Australia