An in-form Redcliffe are on the hunt for three straight wins in Round 11 of the Intrust Super Cup, stark contrast to their earlier season form that put club legend and head coach Troy Lindsay under mounting pressure.
After the Dolphins won just one out of their first seven games of the season they have responded to win two on the splash, celebrating their 450th Cup match in style with a 19-12 upset win over Easts Tigers in Round 10 last weekend.
The traditional powerhouse club will be quietly confident in maintaining their winning form when they take on cellar dwellers Central Queensland Capras in another milestone game for the Intrust Super Cup.
Sunday’s TV game between the Dolphins and Capras will be the 500th televised Cup match (ABC TV and Channel 9) with the first taking place on April 6, 1996 between Easts and Toowoomba.
Fittingly for such a milestone it will feature two of the seven remaining foundation teams – the club with the most TV appearances in Redcliffe (135 appearances) and the least in Central (37).
Coverage of the match begins at 1.30pm on Channel Nine in Queensland.
Elsewhere in Round 11 Tweed Heads Seagulls travel to North Ipswich Reserve to take on the Jets, the ladder-leading Townsville Blackhawks host an in-form PNG Hunters and Wynnum Manly Seagulls play host to defending premiers Northern Pride to round out Saturday's matches.
On Sunday, Easts will be on the prowl for a much needed two points when they host an out-of-sorts Sunshine Coast Falcons at Tapout Energy Stadium.
Playmaking utility Billy Walters – the son of Brisbane Broncos’ legend Kevin – has been named to play his second Intrust Super Cup match off the bench and is expected to slot in at dummy half for the Tigers.
Former Australia and New South Wales representative Tom Learoyd-Lahrs starts in the front row for the Falcons, while star half Ben Hampton is missing due to suspension.
The Burleigh Bears and Mackay Cutters do battle at Pizzey Park with both sides coming off losses.
In team changes, Mackay hooker Rory Kostjasyn (Cowboys) will be replaced by former Warrior Michael Sio with the only other change being Ryan Kinlyside coming onto the bench with Blake Atherton omitted.
Burleigh have made five changes with Khan Ahwang (fullback), Jaiden Hawkes (wing), Jamie Dowling (second row) and Mitch Sharp (prop) and Titans forward Mark Ioane and coming into the side.
North meets south in the final match of Round 11 with the Norths Devils travelling down to Davies Park to play Souths Logan Magpies who are searching for back-to-back wins.
Souths will have Broncos under-20s star Ash Taylor on deck again with the halfback adding another dimension to the Magpies' attack since joining the club three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, the Devils will be without Dale Copley who has earned a Broncos recall, while former Wynnum Manly flyer Sean Loxley moves from halfback to fullback, pushing Ryan Millard to the centres.
In other results from Round 10 last week Ipswich leapfrogged Mackay to move up to third place on the ladder after their 36-20 win over the Cutters, while second-place Wynnum Manly beat the Capras 34-16.
Seagulls halfback Matt Seamark booted five goals for the visitors which took him past 1,000 points for Wynnum Manly becoming only the third player to score 1,000 Cup points for a single club.
Townsville maintained a two-point gap at the top with a 28-0 shutout of Tweed Heads; the PNG Hunters recorded four wins in a row for only the second time in their history with a 34-16 win over Norths and Souths Logan beat the Sunshine Coast 35-4.
