Dreaded spoon on line

Zimmerle pleads for final shot singing team song

clash against leaders Papua New Guinea – Tweed need at least one win to leapfrog the Central Queensland Capras and hope the Rockhampton club go winless against Souths Logan and Ipswich.

The Pride have won only one of their past 11 matches – Tweed have three victories in that time – while the Capras are on a nine-match losing streak.

The problem for the Seagulls, however, is an unavailability crisis among forwards.

From the side that fought hard against Redcliffe last weekend, Keegan Hipgrave (concussion), Sam Saville (shoulder), Ben Nakubuwai (Titans) and Carne DoyleManga (suspension) are all out.

Tweed have already used 41 players this season and that number is set to rise with prop Jarrod Morfett in line for his first game of the year. St George Illawarra by contrast have used 24 players throughout this NRL campaign.

Seagulls rookies Jordan Aiono and Shem Vaoa are likely to be recalled while coach Aaron Zimmerle is even contemplating shifting an outside back into the pack.

Zimmerle has one wish before he stands down at season’s end: “I’d like to sing the song one more time”.

The 1.40pm kick-off will be the team’s first televised game since rounds 12 and 13, when they took back-to-back wins against Redcliffe and the Capras.

Zimmerle hopes they can lift again in front of the cameras. “We don’t want to come last so this is effectively our finals,” he said.