The Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Western Clydesdales carry vastly different form sheets entering Round 18 of the Hostplus Cup.
The Seagulls are soaring after their fourth consecutive win last weekend, with centre Delouise Hoeter coming off his second hat-trick for the season.
Hoeter brought up his 75th Hostplus Cup try last round against the Mackay Cutters and the Western Clydesdales will likely be praying he remains as the 18th man come Sunday.
The Clydesdales will take any good fortune which comes their way, having lost their last 25 away games.
Away days in the Hostplus Cup don’t get any harder than a trip to BMD Kougari Oval, with those inside the chook pen unlikely to be giving any friendly advice to opposition sides.
Despite their poor run of form as of late, the Clydesdales have actually won 14 of the last 24 bouts against the Seagulls.
However, the men from the west of Queensland will have their work cut out for them if they are to make 15 of the last 25, with the Seagulls arguably owning the best form of any team in the competition.
Their star halfback Liam Sutton continues to dominate the competition, scoring four tries and assisting nine tries in only six appearances this year.
Just last week, Sutton added another two tries to his tally, guiding his side to a strong victory over a very capable Mackay Cutters outfit.
With their next two games coming against the 2nd placed Devils and 1st placed Blackhawks, the Clydesdales will be hoping to blindside a Seagulls outfit destined for September football.
If the Clydesdales are to pull off an upset, they’ll be requiring another big performance from winger Fua Schwalger.
Schwalger was easily their best in last weekend’s defeat to the Blackhawks, scoring their lone try and making two line breaks in addition to leading all players with 214 run metres.
Despite the lopsided result, the Clydesdales were well in the fight for stretches against the Blackhawks.
Owning the majority of possession, the Clydesdales struggled to execute when given opportunities and lapsed defensively, missing 37 tackles to the Blackhawks 17.
If the halves duo of Luke Jurd and Luke Rouland can capitalise on the aerial ability of Corey Fenning and then strong ball running of Fua Schwalger, there’s no reason as to why the Clydesdales can’t shock the competition with an underdog victory this Sunday.
However, the Seagulls have their eyes on a premiership this season – and they’ll be looking to cross their T’s and dot their I’s with a fifth consecutive win.
Catch all the action between the Seagulls and Clydesdales this Sunday – with free viewing available via Qplus.tv, Kayo or 9now.
