GUNNEDAH will be looking to bounce back and Walcha continue their momentum when they reboot their seasons at Gunnedah tomorrow.
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The competition has been in recess for the past two weeks, firstly for Anzac Day and then the Country Championships.
For the Red Devils, that’s been two weeks to fester over their last-round thrashing at the hands of Moree.
It’s given them plenty of fodder for a good performance tomorrow.
“We’re looking to get back on track,” co-coach Tim Walsh said.
Easier said than done though.
While the Rams have only had the one win, they pushed the Bulls all the way in the first round.
From what Walsh has heard about them – they don’t have a big pack but are very mobile and have a good set of backs – he’s anticipating them to try to run it from anywhere.
That will test out the Red Devils’ defence, which was where they really fell down against the Bulls.
“More so our attitude in defence,” Walsh said.
“That first half we were pretty slack.
“We let their number 10 do whatever he wanted.”
They can’t afford Rams five-eighth Simon Newton that same luxury tomorrow or they’ll find themselves in similar strife.
Walsh wasn’t sure yesterday of the final make-up but is looking to see what Keegan Loughrey offers at fullback.
“He’s probably the quickest bloke with genuine pace we’ve got,” he said.
“We want to see how he goes at fullback.”
Long-term that’s where they view him as fitting best.
The Rams will head to Gunnedah brimming with confidence from what they’ve produced the first couple of weeks.
And keen to build off that.
They may though have to do without Central North rep Soni Halanukonuka.
He hurt his knee last weekend and was “hobbling pretty well on Tuesday”, Rams co-coach Barry Hoy said.
Hoy said there was a sense of restarting their season again.
“You’ve got those first couple of trial games out of the way, now we settle in,” he said.
He’s not “100 per cent” sure what to expect from the Red Devils but isn’t reading much into the Bulls result.
He was surprised by the scoreline and is bracing for a tough contest.
Especially in the forwards.
“They’ve got a lot of big fellas in the forwards,” he said.
That is where the key is for them.
“We have to try to counter their forwards to try to give our backs some momentum,” Hoy said.
So far they’ve done that pretty well.
“We’ve held our own against Moree and Inverell,” he said.
But the Red Devils will be another step up.
They’ll be the biggest pack size-wise they’ve faced.
In other games tomorrow, Narrabri host a grand final rematch, Tamworth is at home to Moree, Barraba heads to Inverell and Scone travels to Quirindi.
