The penultimate week of Mal Meninga Cup is here, and this weekend has two games that will have Queensland Under 19 Rugby League fans salivating.
First up on Saturday at Kayo Stadium, the Redcliffe Dolphins and Mackay Cutters will see who goes through to the Grand Final first.
Redcliffe didn’t play last week and with the week off they got to sit back and finish their Easter Eggs while Mackay had to deal with the Norths Devils.
If we rewind 12 months the same thing happened, Redcliffe had the week off and then got beaten by the Bears 42-10 to bow out of the competition.
The question will be how much that loss burns the Dolphins.
Redcliffe have only named two survivors from that final’s loss in 2024.
Brian Pouniu and Amare Wynard will back up again.
The Dolphins last game was a 46-16 win against the Townsville Blackhawks two weeks ago.
They will have players that need to perform to win this final against a Mackay team which has both belief and momentum.
Hooker Bralen Marsh is a good place to start.
The baby-faced hooker is lethal around the ruck for the Dolphins.
Nine games for the Dolphins this year after playing for the Capras last season has seen Marsh shine brightly all year.
Marsh gets the ball to the right spot and allows Noah Fein and Lachlan Buchbach to run amok on the back of that width and depth.
The opportunities presented by Carter Ford and Brian Pouniu are the walls this red and white house are built on.
Ford will truck it up and Pouniu will scout wide and on the back of that half Noah Fein will run on the right-hand side.
If the Cutters leave a hole Fein will find it.
The Cutters can’t be too happy with themselves just yet, that’s the secret to flying under the radar.
Keeping the lid on the saucepan when it’s bubbling off.
The Cutters were sensational against the Norths Devils.
They did it with seconds to go for a famous Cutters win.
Rylan Misztela denied Kurt Jones a try by out-leaping his rival after Devils’ halfback Jahrel Iselin-Jansen had delivered a perfectly placed attacking kick.
Just four weeks ago Norths beat Cutters 42-10, highlighting the magnitude of the Mackay performance.
The Cutters wanted this win badly and it showed in their desperation defence.
Travis Larner and second rower Joseph Doyle’s chase on Kurt Jones said everything about the Cutters’ desperation on the day.
The Cutters scrambled like men possessed and that will be need to be repeated this week.
This is the battle to watch, the premiers with the week off against the red-hot Bears.
If the Cutters were the working-class performers based on defence, then the Burleigh Bears were the flashy team based on attack.
Down 12-0 after 11 minutes the Bears looked lost, but they quickly found mum at the shops and everything was good again.
It was hooker Hayden Watson who put in one of the best Mal Meninga final performances in history.
Watson’s runs from dummy half won the game for the Bears.
Every time you thought the Bears weren’t going too far this set the little hooker would set off for a run that suddenly found the Bears in attack.
Watson’s lack of ego is his weapon of choice, he only runs when it’s the right play, no selfish play here.
He’s an expert at getting the ball to the right player at the right time.
Marley McLaren kicked the Magpies to death with his long, accurate kicks finding the Magpies big forwards turning around again constantly.
Jett Bryce was everywhere and will be looking to make sure he repeats that again this week.
It was Bryce that scored the Bears first try in the Grand Final last year and he will be looking to replicate that in the next two weeks.
Bailey Trew the last three weeks has been exceptional and is reminiscent of Xavier Coates with his range and penchant for tough carries.
He brings the ball back and gets the Bears’ set started.
The Bears attacked so well that you didn’t even notice that one of their best Antonio Verhoeven was out with a calf injury.
Tweed have had the week off but are the premiers for a reason.
They’re a great football side.
Sam Stephenson’s battle with Antonio Verhoeven will be something special.
Tall and imposing, Stephenson leaves his mark on Tweed’s games with his attacking running, but also at the defensive end of the field where he’d explode out of dummy half or as a first receiver.
Looking to get Stephenson the ball at every chance will be Javon Andrews, Andrews gives his outside backs time and space to paint a beautiful attacking picture.
In the forwards Cooper Bai is elite for Tweed and his work with Taylan To’a is the punch that Zane Harrison and Andrews need and want.
