FOR a South African-born rugby tragic, running out for Tweed Seagulls against bitter rivals Burleigh after crafting a career in a foreign sport would seem unlikely.

But 185cm, 85kg prop Shane Gillham is firmly entrenched in Seagulls culture and knows the levels local derbies can reach.

"The intensity picks up a gear when you're playing against a close rival in a local derby,” Gillham said.

"It's definitely a tense atmosphere and a big build-up.

"Everyone is up and about and you want the bragging rights.”

Like many South African boys, the Springbok dream was stuff of legend for Gillham and a world away from a rugby league heartland like the Tweed.

But after moving to Perth as a teenager, Gillham found his way into rugby league via the under-18s SG Ball Cup.

He played a season of SG before injury struck, leading him across the country.

"I did my ACL, so after recovering I moved over east to play at the higher level with Souths Logan for a season,” Gillham said.

Impressing at Souths, Gillham found himself in the Gold Coast Titans' under-20s fold in 2015.

"That was an eye-opening experience, seeing how everyone goes about it on a daily basis,” Gillham said of the step-up in professionalism.

"It showed me what I needed to do and the level needed to reach the next step.”

After finishing with the Titans, Gillham headed back to the QRL with Easts before a chance introduction led him back down south to link up with Seagulls.

"When one door closes another one opens. My manager got in touch with Zimmo (coach Aaron Zimmerle) and the opportunity came up with Seagulls,” Gillham said.

"It's a good environment at Seagulls, with a strong club culture. Everyone is pretty tight and pretty open.”

While harbouring ambitions of making it to NRL level, Gillham is firmly committed to creating success with Seagulls.

After a disappointing 2016 when the club finished 13th, Gillham - who'll play A-grade this week after battling intense heat against NRL club Newcastle at Murwillumbah last week - said the club felt success wasn't far away.

"A lot of the boys have been training really hard and I've seen a great work ethic,” he said.

"There's a lot of depth at the club at the moment and there's a lot of competition for spots.”

Gillham said testing themselves against last year's premier Burleigh would be a baptism of fire for the new players.

"All the new guys have been made aware of the fierce rivalry between us and Burleigh, who set the bar as far as the competition goes,” he said.

"We're going there to win, which will give us confidence moving into the next trial and into round one.”

The day kicks off at 4pm at Firth Park, Mudgeeraba, with an under-20s clash, followed by A-grade at 5.30pm and Queensland Cup at 7pm.

Teams:

Queensland Cup:

Lindon McGrady

Nathaneal Barnes

James Wood

James Toole

Regan Muir

Jack Cook

Michael Burgess

Tikiko Noke

Will Johnstone

Carne Doyle-Manga

Sam Carson

Andrew Hart

Jack Durheim

Interchange:

Rex Johnson

Kevin Reed

Kurt Perry

Ezra Howe

Joe Besgrove

Jordan Aiono

Jenan Parish

A-Grade:

Jayden Baker

Adam Barnes

Tevita Folau

Peter Lee

Saverin Rapana

Sione Alofi

Kobi Annand

Jarrod Morfett

Sam Meskell

Shane Gillham

Jackson Clarke

Nick Harrold

Dane Clarke

Interchange:

David Green

Kurtis McDonald

Brayden McGrady

Matt Mulcahey

Ben Jackson

Shem Vaoa

Angus Dorante

Jonty Van De Scheur

Brayden Sunderland

Kirk Murphy

Jake Hughes