RUGBY LEAGUE: CQ Capras under-20s player Connor McGarry will get his first taste of Intrust Super Cup competition this weekend.

Head coach Kim Williams said the hard-running forward would make his first grade debut in the Round 23 clash against the Sunshine Coast Falcons on Saturday.

Dave Taylor continues to battle a calf injury and while Williams said there were encouraging signs at training on Wednesday night, he would be given until late today to prove his fitness.

The Capras head to Gladstone to take on the Falcons, who are sitting just two points out of the top eight and still an outside chance to play in the finals.

The Capras are in 13th place and desperate to finish the season on a positive note and avoid the wooden spoon.

Williams knows his troops will be up against a side with everything to play for.

"They're at the point where they are going to throw everything into this and hope other results work their way this weekend," he said.

"That's a worry for us but we had a bit of a heart to heart with the group about how our performances over the last two weeks in particular have dropped below the standards that we want to set here.

"We're desperate for at least another win, if not two, to finish the season.

""We've just got to find that little bit of hunger that's probably been missing for the last couple of weeks.

"We need 100 per cent for the full 80 minutes and not go looking for any shortcuts."

Williams said it was an exciting opportunity for McGarry, who was one of four under-20s players who had been training with the senior squad for the past eight weeks.

"Connor comes out of the 20s system next year and he's, we feel, ready to play first grade," Williams said.

"The plan would be to put him in the middle and give him 10 minutes either side of half-time.

"He's tough enough, he's big enough and he loves the contact and the aggression.

"He's just the start of what will hopefully be a bit of a production line coming out of that under-20s."

GAME DAY

Saturday at Marley Brown Oval, Gladstone

• 4pm: Hastings Deering Colts: CQ Capras v Sunshine Coast Falcons
• 6pm: Intrust Super Cup: CQ Capras v Sunshine Coast Falcons