Easts Tigers
1. Scott Drinkwater 2. Linc Port 3. Kea Pere 4. Conor Carey 5. Jarrod McInally 6. Joseph Bond 7. Brayden Torpy 8. Dave Tyrrell 9. Chris Ostwald 10. Patrick Kaufusi 11. Jake Foster (c) 12. Ash Little 13. Jarred Tuite 14. James Salter 15. Anton Iaria 16. Jack Anderson 17. Harley Aiono 18. Harry Pondekas
Coach: Scott Sipple
Ipswich Jets
1. Michael Purcell 2. Marmin Barba 3. Pio Seci 17. Rory Humphreys 5. Wes Conlon 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 4. Sam Caslick 9. Jayden Connors 14. Denzel Burns 16. Rowan Winterfield
Coach: Ben Walker and Shane Walker
Last time they clashed Round 19, 2017.
EASTS TIGERS 24 (Jarrod McInally 2, Jake Foster, Billy Walters, Brayden Torpy tries; Brayden Torpy 2 goals) def IPSWICH JETS 20 (Nat Neale 2, Luke Capewell tries; Wes Conlon 4 goals) at Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park.
Overall head to head: Easts 22 Ipswich 20 Drawn 1.
ROUND 3 2018
It’s XXXX Rivalry round and where else would the Jets be heading but up Ipswich Road. The Jets travel to Langlands Park this Saturday and take on the Tigers in the XXXX Rivalry Round. The Jets record at Tiger Town isn’t inspiring. The Tigers have won the last three games two in Ipswich with the Tigers winning 52-20 in 2016 as well as 22-20 and 24-20 last season. Ipswich has won only four of the last 14 between these two clubs. The Jets’ record at Langlands Park is nine from 21 games with one draw. Overall, the record between these clubs is in the Tigers favour 22 to 20 with a draw.
The Jets are coming off a win over the Blackhawks while the Tigers are coming off a 26-24 win over Mackay. The Tigers let Mackay back in the game with nine seconds to go and the conversion missed giving the Tigers a two point win. The Tigers have scored 40 points in their two games opposed to the Jets 32 while in defence the Tigers have allowed 39 to the Jets 40. Both the Tigers and Jets have started the year with one win from two games.
TIGERS
The Tigers dominated possession against the Cutters. They had 52% of the ball and 20 more runs than the Cutters. The Tigers only missed 20 tackles, which meant they were in a position to win the game at the end after letting the Cutters score the first two tries.
TIGERS TO WATCH
SMITH
The heir apparent to the Cam Smith Empire, Brandon Smith is lurking ready to be given the keys to the dummy half role.
Smith is robust and probably more second row than dummy half or even a throwback to previous hookers. He is a great defender he topped the ISC tackle count in round one with 49 tackles in his 80 minutes on the field and 177m of running from 11 runs.
DRINKWATER
208 metres- wow. Drinkwater is the Tigers’ fullback and is doing an outstanding job. He was backing up from 127m in round one. He has 10 tackle breaks from two games as well so he is a handful to put down. Drinkwater set up the first Tigers’ try running to the right and in the second half was responsible for Svendersen’s try. Before he scored his own with a neat scrum play.
WALTERS
Walters was only playing his first game for the Tigers last week but he proved that he can slot in with minimal fuss. Walters’ kicking game turned the Cutters around and made them work hard out of their end of the field. Walters kicked 236m and found space three times with his kicks.
JETS
The Jets had 70% of the ball against the Blackhawks and dominated a much bigger team. The Jets kept the ball and made the Blackhawks tackle until they pop.
The Jets had 16 sets in the first half compared to the Blackhawks 6. Townsville made 121 more tackles than the Jets.
JETS TO WATCH
CHRISTIAN
Julian Christian was outstanding and should have gone close to the best player on the field. He was doing it all seven tackle breaks, five kicks, one line break and one try assist. His footwork just meant the Blackhawks were constantly retreating.
From his four games in the ISC Christian has 518m at an average of 129m a game.
SHEA
Ben Shea just goes forward he has 295m from two games this year. Shea is taking hard runs but still making ground. Against the Blackhawks he topped the Jets metres gained with 174m and is doing an outstanding job. Shea has 120m post contact metres, which means he keeps moving after the tackle.
PANDIA
Seb Pandia is a ball of power the first two weeks of this season. Six tackle breaks and five off-loads against the Blackhawks means he is hard to stop promoting the ball even if you can get hold of him. Pandia has 46 runs this season and 372m from two games as well as breaking 14 tackles.
Jets v Tigers, this is probably my favourite game for the season. Always-emotional affairs. The Jets have a real chance to get one over the Tigers this week but the Tigers at home is never easy.