The Tweed Heads Seagulls aren't expecting any sympathy when the in-form Papua New Guinea Hunters come into town chasing a fifth-straight win in the Intrust Super Cup.
Last weekend the Seagulls' playoff hopes were effectively ended by a fifth loss in six matches to Easts Tigers, while the Hunters returned to the top six with a rare away win.
After slipping to 11th on the competition standings Tweed coach Ben Woolf accepted their playoff hopes were all but over.
"We've had a lot of injuries and we've had a lot of movement up and down with Titans guys coming in and out of the side as well, (from the NRL), which is always difficult to manage, so we've really struggled to get a bit of team cohesion," Woolf said.
"When we kept the same team on the field for a long period of time we won a lot of games in that time and since we haven't been able to do that - we lost a couple of key guys in that period as well - it's been a bit of a tough couple of weeks."
Tweed Heads beat the PNG Hunters home and away this season. Photo: RNZI/Melvin Levongo
After a slow start to the season Woolf expected the defending champions to be at their best on Sunday.
"They play very physically and they're a very competitive group as well so they have come into a bit of form," he said.
"I think they did struggle a little bit early - they were probably in a position where they had a few injuries of their own and a few guys that had to play a lot of footy last year, which takes its toll as well, but they seemed to have freshened up and they seem to be going well at the moment."
Tweed Heads were beaten 32-18 in Port Moresby in April although the Seagulls were the only team to sweep the Hunters last season.
