The Gold Coast Titans will start their NRL Touch Premiership campaign with a game against the Brisbane Broncos at Cbus Super Stadium this Sunday, tapping off at 12:00pm ahead of the Titans v Knights NRL fixture.
The NRL Touch Premiership is an elite touch football tournament in which men’s and women’s teams representing eight NRL clubs play curtain-raisers to NRL matches at stadiums around Australia.
This Sunday there will be a Men’s 30-minute game, followed by a Women’s 30-minute game ahead of the NRL main event.
The second year of this elite touch football tournament has expanded significantly, with more NRL clubs involved, and about four times as many gamedays at more stadiums all across the country.
There will be three NRL Touch Premiership Men’s and Women’s matches held at Cbus Super Stadium in the Gold Coast throughout the season:
Sunday 21st April: Touch Titans v Broncos (ahead of NRL Titans v Knights)
Sunday 2nd June: Touch Titans v Warriors (ahead of NRL Titans v Cowboys)
Sunday 21st July: Touch Titans v Eels (ahead of NRL Titans v Storm)
The Titans touch teams are well placed heading into the 2019 tournament, particularly the Titans Women’s, said Touch Football Australia (TFA) CEO Jamie O’Connor.
“At the 2019 National Touch League last month, the athletes who make up the Women’s team took out the Women’s Open division,” he said.
“The Women’s side is so successful at the moment because they’re made up of the perfect combination of youth and experience – the team’s full of athletes who can run all day and others with experience representing Australia in touch football.
“The Men’s team also features highly regarded Australian players, Pete Norman, Adam Pryde, brothers Corey and Brad Russell, and Golden Jubilee player – meaning one of the best of the best throughout the history of the sport – Drumayne Dayberg-Muir.”
Touch Football is Australia’s largest social sport, with 680,000 participants, and O’Connor knows these participants, as well as NRL fans, will love the thrilling spectacle of elite touch.
“Both men’s and women’s elite touch football is fast and high-try-scoring, with phenomenal footwork, long passes, dives and trick moves. There’s no wonder the NRL Touch Premiership has been coined as the NRL’s answer to the Big Bash,” he said.
The NRL Touch Premiership will run through to August, with both the Men’s and Women’s Grand Finals on 18th August 2019.
The teams are as follows:
Titans Men’s
(1) Jakob HALL, (2) Wayne UNUWAI, (3) Peter NORMAN (c) (4) Jayden LOVE, (6) Mai PHILLIPS, (7) Drumayne DAYBERG-MUIR, (8) Bradley RUSSELL, (10) Tristan WAGG, (11) Jesse CURTIS, (12) Adam PRYDE, (13) Jordan WATTS, (14) Connah PAMATATAU, (15) David MAHER
Titans Women’s
(1) Marikki WATEGO (c), (2) Toni WELLS, (3) Georgina RACKEMANN, (4) Taylah CONNELL, (5) Hinerangi ANDREASSEND, (6) Sammy-Jo CURTIS, (7) Tarryn AIKEN, (8) Rebecca MI MI, (9) Brittany DONOVAN, (10) Ashleigh KEARNEY (c), (11) Kayla MI MI, (12) Marama THOMAS, (13) Lucia FILDES
Broncos Men’s
(1) Tim BAARTZ (c), (2) Tommy QUINLIVAN, (3) Cody GREEN, (4) Jake NOTLEY, (5) James COURTNEY, (6) Sean HOOPER, (7) Justin OTTO, (8) Samuel CARMODY, (10) Liam BAUER, (12) Hayden MOFFAT, (13) David SEN, (14) Connor HARVEY, (15) James SHARP
Broncos Women’s
(1) Emily HENNESSEY (c), (2) Katherine STEVENS, (3) Samantha HOPKIN, (5) Katee MALLER, (6) Hayley MADDICK, (7) Mia JOHNSTONE, (9) Kaitlin SHAVE, (10) Kimberley SUE SEE (c), (11) Paige PARKER, (12) Catherine SARGENT, (13) Tahlia ROLPH, (14) Melia LARKIN, (15) Rachel WALSH
