Walcha's mantra: we must hold onto the ball

After going through the first round since the split undefeated, the Rams have lost three of their last four games.

A common theme in those has been too much dropped ball.

It was a critical factor in their loss to Scone last week, and their loss to the Magpies the game before.

“We’ve just got to cut our mistakes out,” coach Andrew Crawford said.

“If we cut our mistakes out we’re a team that can contest.” 

They will also need to muscle up better in defence.

“We let their (Scone) number 12 run a bit too much last week and slipped off a few tackles,” Crawford said.

“We’ve got to close their seven down and work on their outside backs.

“We gave them way too much space last time.”

They have rejigged a few things  from last week. 

“We’ve made a few changes. Hopefully it’ll work,” Crawford said.

One of the most notable is captain Simon Newton moving back out to 12 and Bevan Wood coming into five-eighth.

That was how they started against the Magpies last time with Soni Halanukonuka at nine.

Last week they  admittedly had their problems at nine, but they’ve kept Halanukonuka there. 

Brian Mansfield also comes into the starting side on the wing after impressing off the bench.

“He was pretty sharp last week,” Crawford said.

They have also switched Jock Fortescue and Will Fletcher around at breakaway, with Fletcher going to blindside and Fortescue to openside.

“It gives us a bit more speed onto the ball,” Crawford said.

He’s hoping Fortescue’s extra pace will help them compete better with Tamworth seven Harry Veitch.

After enduring two close losses, Magpies co-coach Ross Duncan said they would  draw a lot of confidence from that last meeting success.

“The boys have the confidence now to know they can beat Walcha,” Duncan said.

On top of that, they played well and played good attacking football.

It was a blueprint for how they have to play tomorrow.

“We’ve just got to slow their momentum in the forwards,” Duncan said.

“Make sure we’re getting off the line – as Scone did successfully – and putting pressure on their backline.”

Basically stifle their space.

It’s no secret that the Walcha backs are  their strength.

“A lot of their tries are scored through the backs but off good go-forward,” Duncan said.

One of the focuses for them has been the set pieces.

“Realistically, our set piece has been under a bit of pressure the last month,” Duncan said.

“We’ve done a few things to try to  change that.”

They just scraped through the minor semi-final against Barraba and will have to be a lot better tomorrow.

“We got a really good start there. We’ll look to do that again,” Duncan said.

And this time, finish  the game off, with the Rams dominating most of the second half last time.