Try-scoring machine out to fire for Cairns

COACH Leon Hallie hopes Innisfail try-scoring phenomenon Daniel Mairu can maintain his form in Cairns colours this weekend.

The flashy outside back will line up on the wing for Cairns at this weekend’s Foley Shield weekend in Townsville.

Mairu missed most of 2019 with a broken arm but has been one of the form wingers since making his return to the top grade this season, scoring five tries in four games, including a four-try haul against Ivanhoe Knights last week.

“He’s always been an A-grade player but he’s just been battling injuries,” Hallie said.

“He’s been around the club (Innisfail) for a few years but he’s had a really good pre-season and he’s just been tremendous in the way he’s been playing, we had to put him in.”

The coach said he was up there with one of the best finishers in the competition.

“He’s quite a smart footballer and he can play anywhere in the backline so he’s quite handy,” he said. Hallie said it was good to see players like Jordan Biondi-Odo and Aidan Day, who have been named co-captains, put their hand up to represent Cairns, considering they had “been there, done that”.

“Obviously it means something to them,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing them lead the boys,” he said.

Cairns had its one and only training session on Thursday night, and Hallie was surprised with how quickly combinations started to develop.

“If you’ve got a good group of guys they can pretty much pick things up straight away, and we haven’t got a very complicated style of play,” he said. The team has changed dramatically since it was first named at the start of the week, with Andrew Garrett, Daniel Woodhouse, Quinlyn Cannon, Taniela Taufoou and Noel Underwood coming in.

Cairns will take on Mackay at 4.30pm today, before a clash against traditional rivals Townsville at 2pm tomorrow.

The Foley Shield carnival will be livestreamed on the QRL website, the Intrust Super Cup app and the QRL North Facebook page.