Ipswich Jets v Norths Devils at North Ipswich Reserve on Saturday, May 19 – 1.10pm* (Channel 9 TV game)
Ipswich Jets
1. Wes Conlon 2. Marmin Barba 3. Pio Seci 4. Sam Caslick 5. Richie Pandia 6. Julian Christian 7. Dane Phillips 8. Tyson Lofipo 21. Kierran Moseley 10. Nat Neale (c) 11. Ben White 12. Seb Pandia 13. Ben Shea 9. Jayden Connors 16. Rowan Winterfield 17. Rory Humphreys 19. Mitch Carpenter
Coach: Ben Walker and Shane Walker
Norths Devils
1. Jack Ahearn 2. Namila Davui 3. Luke Pollock 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Chevi Ellis 6. Troy Dargan 7. Todd Murphy 8. Oshae Tuiasau 9. Calum Gahan 10. Jamayne Taunoa-Brown 11. Iain Riccardi 12. Brandon Lee 13. John Palavi (c) 14. Dalton Phillips 15. Carne Doyle-Manga 16. Patrick Akauola 17. Alex Bishop 18. Josh Afoa 19. Danny Kerr 20. Riley Leota
Coach: Rohan Smith
HEAD TO HEAD: Norths 24 Ipswich 17 Drawn 2
Last time they clashed: Round 14- 2017
IPSWICH JETS 44 (Wes Conlon 2, Richard Pandia 2, Nemani Valekapa, Jesse Roberts, Seb Pandia, Lachlan Roe tries; Wes Conlon 5, Luke Capewell goals) def NORTHS DEVILS 24 (Michael Lucas 2, Javarn White, Delouise Hoeter, Luke Pollock tries; Chris Sandow 2 goals) at North Ipswich.
ROUND 11
The Devils come to Ipswich on Saturday with an impressive record at the home of the Jets. Norths have won eleven and the Jets nine at the North Ipswich Reserve; including a draw. Norths are in fourth spot and won three of their last five games. Away from home this year, Norths have lost one game from four. That one game was against Townsville.
Norths have scored 202 points this year and had 181 posted against them. Jets have 173 points against their name in attack and 186 in defence.
The Jets have lost one game at home this season to Mackay.
NORTHS
The Devils are coming off a week off but their last outing was not the standard they have set all year. The Devils lost at home to Mackay. They did not give themselves the best chance to win with only 48% of the ball and when they did have it, they did not use it very intelligently. Norths did too much defence to ever have anything left to attack with when they had the ball and the Cutters strolled through.
TODD MURPHY
You cannot talk Norths without talking Todd Murphy. The Devils’ half will be the vocal point of everything the Devils do on the weekend. Murphy is a busy player he loves going to the line and engaging players. He has gone to the line 26 times this season Murphy has two try assists. He kicks in general play for the Devils and for goal with 58 points this season.
JACK AHEARN
Jack Ahern is the Devils crafty little fullback that has contributed plenty of great attack this season. Ahearn has six line break assists this season and seven try assists. Ahearn is a great support player and if Norths go through the line, Ahearn will pop up in support. The Cutters were able to make Ahearn miss five tackles.
GEHAMAT SHIBASAKI
Shibasaki can be deceptive; against Mackay, he was very strong doing plenty of ugly work for the Devils. He only made one line break but contributed 264 metres. Shibaskaki did a lot of hard work breaking tackles and can be a hard player to get a hold of with 33 tackle breaks this year peaking at eight against Wynnum in round two. Shibasaki has been named for the Broncos so might not be at North Ipswich on Saturday.
JETS
The Jets won two in a row and a great win against Redcliffe then came unstuck against Tweed. It is proving a frustrating Jets trait this season so far. If the Jets were playing Test cricket they see off the great fast bowlers with no dramas but then get out to the part time bowler.
DANE PHILLIPS
Phillips’ kicking game against the Tweed gave the Jets plenty of space and field position. Phillips’ short kicking game has forced 11 drop out this year, the Jets have scored 11 tries this year from kicks, and Phillips’ kicking game has been great at keeping pressure on and getting a result.
TYSON LOFIPO
The old bull was there off-loading and creating tries on Saturday against Tweed. It was a beautiful sight to see Loifpo for Neale and try. Lofipo played 31 minutes and made a great impact. Tyson has 16 tackle breaks this year from nine games. The great footwork is still getting through the line and creating broken play for support players.
KIERRAN MOSELEY
Moseley won the Jets players’ player against Tweed. His defence was outstanding making 36 tackles for the Jets. Moseley has now made 229 this year from his nine games. Moseley has played 80 minutes for the last six weeks and it is that consistency of service and defence that is helping the Jets. Both teams are coming off a loss and will be looking to fix some things from their last game. The Jets do not like losing at home and live on 9 will provide further motivation to make sure that everyone sees the real Jets.