• MACKAY CUTTERS v REDCLIFFE DOLPHINS
6pm, Saturday 13 June, Stadium Mackay
Referee: Nick Morel
The sixth-placed Cutters (seven wins, five losses) certainly love a tight game.
Their past two outings – against fellow Intrust Super Cup Cowboys feeder teams the Blackhawks and the Pride – have been two-point results.
The Cutters lost 14-12 late to the table-topping Blackhawks last outing, while they squeaked home 12-10 against the Pride in round 12.
This Saturday, the Cutters host the 10th-placed Dolphins, who are coming off a 28-12 loss at the hands of the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
The Cutters will be without their Cowboys-allocated hooker/half Rory Kostjasyn, who has been given the weekend off after a busy time of it last weekend when he played the first half against the Blackhawks before joining with his Cowboys teammates in Sydney for the Eels game, where he was the non-playing 18th man.
Fellow Cowboys squad member Josh Chudleigh has been named on the bench for the Cutters, who will want a secure a strong win against a lower-ranked opponent to entrench themselves in the all-important top six.
• CQ CAPRAS v TOWNSVILLE BLACKHAWKS
6pm, Saturday 13 June, Browne Park, Rockhampton
Referee: Liam Kennedy
There’s nothing quite like an opponent under the pump, and that’s certainly what the bottom-placed Capras (one win, 11 losses) are ahead of their hosting of the top-placed Blackhawks (10 wins, two losses).
The Capras this week announced that coach Jason Hetherington had resigned, the former Queensland State of Origin hooker to be replaced by incumbent Cutters mentor Kim Williams.
Amongst all the turmoil and losing form, the Capras will be hell-bent on being responsible for some good news, so are sure to be in a defiant mood against a Blackhawks team who squeezed out a narrow 14-12 win over the Cutters last weekend.
The Blackhawks have named a strong team for the clash, including Cowboys quintet Zac Santo, Kyle Feldt, Glenn Hall, Kelepi Tanginoa and halfback Robert Lui, who returns to the field after several weeks off with a hamstring injury.
• SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS v NORTHERN PRIDE
2pm, Sunday 14 June, Sunshine Coast Stadium
Referee: Tim Rutherford
Coming off a well-earned 24-18 win over Tweed Heads last round, the seventh-placed (six wins, six losses) Pride can force their way into the top six with a win over the Falcons this weekend.
Although they sit down the ladder in 11th place (four wins, eight losses), the Falcons are also last-start winners (28-12 v Redcliffe) and would be looking for a good showing in front of their home crowd.
The Pride have named Cowboys-aligned quartet Hezron Murgha, Patrick Kaufusi, Ben Spina and Cameron King, but will be without exciting centre Javid Bowen, who dislocated his shoulder in the game against the Seagulls and will be out of action for several weeks.
