Bond University Queensland Country head coach Rod Seib has named his side for the annual all Queensland National Rugby Championship (NRC) derby, which will see Country take on Brisbane City at Gladstone’s Marley Brown Oval this Saturday, 28 September.
The match will be the first NRC game in Central Queensland since 2015, with Country last hosting the Perth Spirit in Rockhampton in 2015.
The match will also see the two sides contest the Andy Purcell Cup, named after Purcell who served various levels of Rugby in Queensland as a player, selector, referee, coach and administrator, before being named a life member of QRU in 1986. Purcell was particularly influential in Country Rugby, helping establish the Toowoomba Rangers Rugby club in the 1960s, as well as the Queensland Country Rugby Union where he served as president.
Seib has made five changes to his starting XV from the team that went down to the Melbourne Rising in Ballart last weekend.
In the forwards, Bronson Fotuali’i Tauakipulu (Wests) and Connor Pritchard (Bond) will both make their starting debuts, while St.George Queensland Reds lock Angus Blyth returns to the second row.
In the backs, Gold Coast product Joey Fittock (Bond) returns to the left wing having missed last week’s match, while Reds flyer Filipo Daugunu will start on the right wing, seeing Jock Campbell shift to fullback.
In the reserves, Liam Dillon returns as reserve scrumhalf, the Townsville product in line for his second NRC cap.
Two Central Queensland linked players have been named in the reserves. Backrower Jeremiah Lynch played junior Rugby for the Cathedral School and Colts Rugby Club in Rockhampton, while Australian Sevens representative Tom Lucas was also born in Rockhampton.
Head coach Rod Seib said: “We’re really looking forward to this week’s match in Gladstone, it’s always special when the team gets to travel to our regional centres and engage with the local Rugby public.
“The team also really look forward to the annual Country v City clash. It’s come at the right time for us as we look to get our season back on track, and in terms of motivation, the fact we’re playing Brisbane City is motivation enough.
“We need to build some momentum, after a strong performance against Canberra back in Round 2, we’ve fallen into a lull and we need to return to form if we have any hopes of progressing past the regular season.
“We’re lucky to have a couple of Central Queensland products in our line-up this weekend, it will be great to see them return home and pull on the Country jersey. Especially for a player like Jerry (Lynch) who still has family in Rockhampton who will be coming to the match.
“We’re also going to have players in town ahead of the game, helping host junior clinics and attending local training, so hopefully we can call upon the support of the local Central Queensland Rugby community to help us get over the line this weekend.”
Queensland Country and Brisbane City players will tonight attend Gladstone Goats junior training at Marley Brown Oval from 4:30pm, before tomorrow morning hosting a free Rookies2Reds clinic from 9:00am to 10:30am, for kids aged 17 and under, on the playing field behind Marley Brown Oval. Kids can register to attend the clinic via this link: http://bit.ly/2m4zri1
Queensland Rugby Union has partnered with the Gladstone Regional Council to bring the NRC match to Gladstone. The clash between Country and City kicks off at 4:00pm at Marley Brown Oval, with gates opening at 12:30pm for preliminary matches from 1:00pm.
Tickets are available via: https://gladstoneentertainment.com/nrc-union-game/.
