CENTRAL North Kookaburras believe they have the arsenal to triumph at Bowral this weekend and bring home the Richardson Shield.
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All the ingredients to succeed are there – firepower, game-breakers, impact off the bench and versatility.
Co-coach Hunter Harley also remarked about the balance of the squad.
“We just seem to have a lot of players who are very dimensional,” he said.
He and co-coach Tom Cullen carry in high expectations and would regard anything but winning the silverware as “very disappointing” with the squad they have taken down.
It hasn’t been an ideal preparation though, with injuries ruling out five-eighth Henri Knight, second-rower Sam Clements and Josh Stewart, and the tragic events at Quirindi two weeks ago.
Almost half the side were playing (for Narrabri) when Quirindi second-rower Nick Tooth was fatally injured.
The incident understandably rocked them, as it did the rugby community as a whole.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Harley said.
But with the benefit of some time to deal with it, he said the players were looking forward to getting out there and playing.
“I actually think just the way it’s been with the break, it’s given people time to try to digest it,” he said.
The first hurdle for the Kookaburras will be local rivals New England and, not surprisingly, the Kookaburras will be looking to assert their presence physically.
“Physically is where we’ve got to try to play them,” Harley said.
He said they don’t have to do anything too flashy.
It’ll be about possession and pressure.
“If you’ve got possession you’re hard to beat,” he said.
“Not many teams have greater possession and lose games.”
Tamworth duo Mitch Wheaton and Harry Veitch have been promoted to the starting side in place of Clements and Stewart.
Finding cover for Knight was a bit more complicated.
In the end they opted for moving Walcha half-back Soni Halanukonuka there.
It is a bit of a risk but Harley has faith he’ll do a good job there.
“Soni has great hands,” he said.
And he’ll serve their purposes well, which is to service centres Mitch Kelly and Jake Douglas.
“When you’ve got people like Mitch and Jake outside of you all you’ve got to do is catch and pass and back up,” he said.
It’s no secret they’ll be looking to get them involved as much as possible, and he’ll be really looking for them to get them going forward.
Another trump card is skipper Matt Schwager.
It’ll be the Blue Boars skipper’s first time representing Central North since the U12s and he just asserts so much calm and control at the base of the scrum.
Securing the services of Moree second-rower Chris Clyne has also been a boost.
“It gives us an extra lineout jumper and also a good player around the park,” Harley said.
They’ll be the first of the senior games today, kicking off at 9am with hopefully a semi-final to follow in the afternoon.