Battlelines will be drawn when the ladder-leading Northern Pride take to the paddock against the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in Country Week rugby league action in Cooktown on 27 July.
The Pride will be hoping for major hometown support and a sea of blue in the stands on Saturday afternoon as they aim to tighten their stranglehold on the 2024 Hostplus Cup premiership race.
Sitting on top of the ladder with a 13-3 win-loss record for the season, the Pride will head into the round 19 clash as overwhelming favourites against the seventh-placed Seagulls, who have been struggling for consistency on the paddock.
The team will be in the Cooktown region in the lead-up to game day doing school, club and community engagement visits, and head coach Eric Smith said players were looking forward to running onto the field in front of a vocal supporter base.
“It’s exciting for some of the new players who haven’t experienced Country Week before to get out to the other communities around Cooktown,” he said.
“We’re looking to get a massive crowd up there to build a sea of Pride supporters.”
Kick-off at John Street Oval is at 3:30pm.