LOGAN CITY AND STINGRAYS BIG MEN CLASH
19 March 2009

(By QRU)

The Logan City and the Sunshine Coast Stingrays forward packs are primed for a titanic battle when they meet on Saturday in round five of the State Cup at Homestead Park (kickoff 3.00pm).

Both sides are renowned for their ability to control matches and dictate the tempo of the game using their forwards, ensuring a brutal contest in the Stingrays first road match of the year. While the Stingrays only managed four wins in Premier Rugby last year, their forward pack was an intimidating presence and was recognised in the upper-echelon of the competition. Logan City has failed to score a win in the opening month of the State Cup, but their forward pack has provided a strong platform to ensure their competitiveness.

“I’m really looking forward to the forwards battle,” Logan City coach Mark Forrester said. “But this weekend the team whose backline stands up will go a long way to winning the game. While we’ve struggled a little bit to put points on the board, funnily enough we haven’t struggled to put teams under pressure.”

Forrester puts their inability to score points – having only scored three tries in four games – down to a lack of composure.

“We need to maintain our composure and deal with the pace of the game,” he said. “(Behind) 15-7 we had an opportunity to win the game against the Rugby Gold Coast side (last weekend) and we just couldn’t quite put them away. We’ve created the opportunities, but once we even dropped the ball over the line.”

Returning at his preferred fullback position for Logan is 2008 Queensland Schoolboy Luke Leeming after he missed last weekend’s game through injury. Unfortunately, injury to captain Rex Harrison (pictured) may mean he misses his second consecutive game.

Forrester understands his team faces an uphill battle with the Stingrays only one week away from beginning the 2009 Premier season, but hopes his squad can continue to improve.

“What I’m happy with as we’ve moved through the State Cup is we’ve learned from our errors and haven’t really made the same mistakes."

Sunshine Coast enters the match with a 50 percent strike rate in their two State Cup matches to date, against Rugby Gold Coast (17-43) and Darling Downs (29-12). However, the lack of games doesn’t faze coach Glen Panaho, who says his side is wanting an improved performance as they ramp up for next week.

“It’s definitely a game I’m a little bit concerned about leading into the first Premier Grade game as the last thing we want to do is put in a poor performance and have to face one of the teams from the grand final (Brothers) in the first game of the year,” Panaho said. “We’ve been switching quite a few combinations which has made it quite difficult, but we’re pretty close to what we can expect to be our number one side.

Panaho insists his side won't be caught looking ahead as their sole focus remains Logan.

“You’ve got to be careful of Logan because they can play some footy,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a pretty physical battle.  From what I’ve heard, their game against the Gold Coast was pretty intense. Our boys have got to turn up or they’ll be in for a rude shock.

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