TODAY QRL Media will begin our series detailing the major gains and losses of each of the Intrust Super Cup clubs for the 2014 season.
The first club to feature will be Gold Coast club the Burleigh Bears who have a number of big names boosting their squad next season.
There is also an influx of quality young talent, with players moving up from the NYC competition to test themselves in the open age competition.
Visit the www.qrl.com.au website tomorrow for the Central Queensland Capras and Ipswich Jets gains and losses.
Burleigh Bears:
Gains: Matt Keating (Parramatta Eels), Matthew Bell (Wests Tigers), Dimitri Pelo (Canberra Raiders), Henare Wells (Sydney Roosters/Newtown Jets), Khan Ahwang (Ipswich Jets), Shaun Maloney (Norths Devils), Corbin Kiernan (Easts Tigers), Chris Kitching (Tugun Seahawks), Joel Sykes (Tugun Seahawks), Sam Cook (NZ Warriors NYC), James Dunley (Penrith Panthers NYC)
Losses: Todd Seymour (retired), James Stuart (retired), Ethan Mafi (retired), Brendan Hoare (retired), Danny Kerr (Newcastle Knights NSW Cup), Lee Mitchell (Whitehaven, UK), Jono Miliszewski (Easts Tigers), Adam Slater (Coffs Harbour)
Trio of Pelo brothers help boost Burleigh squad
by Kevin Braysher
The Burleigh Bears have continued to bolster their 2014 Intrust Super Cup roster with the signing of two more NRL players.
Canberra winger/fullback Dimitri Pelo and Wests Tigers second rower Matthew Bell are the latest recruits to arrive at Burleigh for pre-season training.
Bell is a Brisbane product who played with the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup before heading to the NRL in 2006.
He spent six seasons at the Penrith Panthers and two more at the Wests Tigers racking up 142 first grade appearances.
Now the 30-year-old forward returns to Queensland and will add plenty of starch and experience to a young Burleigh team.
I think Im probably seven or eight years older than the average age of the rest of the team, Bell said.
It will be a new thing for me to be I guess one of the most experienced guys in the side coming from the NRL. Im pretty excited about that and taking on that role.
I havent played Intrust Super Cup in eight years, but I remember it being a really strong comp even back then.
I think its safe to say that after the NRL its the second strongest competition in Australia.
While Bell is returning to his home state after eight years in Sydney, it is also a homecoming for Pelo who is returning to the club where it all began.
Pelo will also be joined in the Burleigh senior ranks by his twin 17-year-old brothers Dylan and Daymeric. Both boys are also contracted Titans players.
As a 17-year-old in 2002, the eldest Pelo became the youngest player to debut for Burleighs Cup team.
Since then, he has gone on to play 88 games for the Catalans Dragons, five NRL games for the Canberra Raiders and became an international by representing France.
Its where I started my whole career. For me its going to be good to finish off where it all started. I left there as a junior and now Ive come back as one of the leaders, Pelo said.
Its a different role for me now. Its never been a big part of who I am Im not a big talker to begin with so Im going to lead with the way I play and train I think.
Both Bell and Pelo are on one-year deals and will add plenty of class and experience to the Bears as they look to move up the ladder and into the 2014 Intrust Super Cup finals series.
The Bears have also secured more young Gold Coast junior talent with Sam Cook (NZ Warriors NYC, former Bear), Henare Wells (Newtown Jets (Nerang junior)) and James Dunley (Penrith Panthers NYC (grand finalist, Southport junior)) all signing on for next season.
The first club to feature will be Gold Coast club the Burleigh Bears who have a number of big names boosting their squad next season.
There is also an influx of quality young talent, with players moving up from the NYC competition to test themselves in the open age competition.
Visit the www.qrl.com.au website tomorrow for the Central Queensland Capras and Ipswich Jets gains and losses.
Burleigh Bears:
Gains: Matt Keating (Parramatta Eels), Matthew Bell (Wests Tigers), Dimitri Pelo (Canberra Raiders), Henare Wells (Sydney Roosters/Newtown Jets), Khan Ahwang (Ipswich Jets), Shaun Maloney (Norths Devils), Corbin Kiernan (Easts Tigers), Chris Kitching (Tugun Seahawks), Joel Sykes (Tugun Seahawks), Sam Cook (NZ Warriors NYC), James Dunley (Penrith Panthers NYC)
Losses: Todd Seymour (retired), James Stuart (retired), Ethan Mafi (retired), Brendan Hoare (retired), Danny Kerr (Newcastle Knights NSW Cup), Lee Mitchell (Whitehaven, UK), Jono Miliszewski (Easts Tigers), Adam Slater (Coffs Harbour)
Trio of Pelo brothers help boost Burleigh squad
by Kevin Braysher
The Burleigh Bears have continued to bolster their 2014 Intrust Super Cup roster with the signing of two more NRL players.
Canberra winger/fullback Dimitri Pelo and Wests Tigers second rower Matthew Bell are the latest recruits to arrive at Burleigh for pre-season training.
Bell is a Brisbane product who played with the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup before heading to the NRL in 2006.
He spent six seasons at the Penrith Panthers and two more at the Wests Tigers racking up 142 first grade appearances.
Now the 30-year-old forward returns to Queensland and will add plenty of starch and experience to a young Burleigh team.
I think Im probably seven or eight years older than the average age of the rest of the team, Bell said.
It will be a new thing for me to be I guess one of the most experienced guys in the side coming from the NRL. Im pretty excited about that and taking on that role.
I havent played Intrust Super Cup in eight years, but I remember it being a really strong comp even back then.
I think its safe to say that after the NRL its the second strongest competition in Australia.
While Bell is returning to his home state after eight years in Sydney, it is also a homecoming for Pelo who is returning to the club where it all began.
Pelo will also be joined in the Burleigh senior ranks by his twin 17-year-old brothers Dylan and Daymeric. Both boys are also contracted Titans players.
As a 17-year-old in 2002, the eldest Pelo became the youngest player to debut for Burleighs Cup team.
Since then, he has gone on to play 88 games for the Catalans Dragons, five NRL games for the Canberra Raiders and became an international by representing France.
Its where I started my whole career. For me its going to be good to finish off where it all started. I left there as a junior and now Ive come back as one of the leaders, Pelo said.
Its a different role for me now. Its never been a big part of who I am Im not a big talker to begin with so Im going to lead with the way I play and train I think.
Both Bell and Pelo are on one-year deals and will add plenty of class and experience to the Bears as they look to move up the ladder and into the 2014 Intrust Super Cup finals series.
The Bears have also secured more young Gold Coast junior talent with Sam Cook (NZ Warriors NYC, former Bear), Henare Wells (Newtown Jets (Nerang junior)) and James Dunley (Penrith Panthers NYC (grand finalist, Southport junior)) all signing on for next season.
