The Redcliffe Dolphins have received a boost ahead of their daunting trip to Cairns to face the undefeated Northern Pride with Broncos' contracted players Stewart Mills and Zach Strasser to play their first Intrust Super Cup games of 2014.
Redcliffe had the bye in Round 2 following their bruising Round 1 loss to the PNG Hunters but face another difficult assignment against a Pride side that recorded a big win over Sunshine Coast in Round 1 and backed that performance up with a grinding away win against the Central Queensland Capras.
The Capras face a tough time in trying to record their first win of the season when they travel to PNG to play the Hunters, Ipswich Jets are hosting Wynnum Manly in a festival of football that is incorporating the Australian Defence Force inter-service carnival, Ramon Filipine plays his 100th Cup game when Souths Logan host Burleigh, Ryan James is due to turn out for Tweed Heads when they play Norths and the undefeated Easts Tigers are strong favourites to account for Sunshine Coast.
While the additions of Mills, Strasser and second-rower Sarafu Fatiaki are all positives for the Dolphins, the five-time premiership-winning club has to overturn some lopsided recent history to defeat a Pride team that includes Matthew Wright, Cameron King and Javid Bowen.
In meetings between these two sides the Pride have notched 11 wins compared to Redcliffe’s one, a remarkable statistic given the 'Phins’ standing in the competition. Redcliffe’s only win over the Pride was in June 2008 at Barlow Park – they have all 10 games against them since.
For a complete preview of all six Round 3 Intrust Super Cup games click here.