NARRABRI and Pirates will both need to overcome injury disruptions as they match up for the first time since last year’s grand final at Dangar Park today.
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The Blue Boars have had to reshuffle the backline after Henri Knight ruptured his spleen in the last round.
Sam Clements was also injured against the Lions but will be given until kick-off to prove he’s recovered from his ankle injury.
Pirates didn’t escape the last round unscathed, with breakaway Josh Stewart injuring his tricep, and out for anything from six weeks to the season.
Michael Carr will take over the chief scavenger role with Barton Leach coming into six.
The Blue Boars have opted to move Jake Packer into five-eighth.
The Kookaburra Colt has played wing and fullback the first two games but Blue Boars coach Hunter Harley views him as a five-eighth potentially long-term.
“He played five-eighth for the 16s and 18s,” he said.
They head in with two good wins behind them but will know a lot more about how they’re travelling after today.
And with their two longest away trips to follow, Harley said it was an important game for them.
“We want to be going into those other games with a win,” he said.
He anticipates it will take a little while for both teams to find their groove again after the two weeks off, although having had more than half the side play for Central North last weekend will help them.
Pirates are a different side to what they were last year but the threats remain the same.
“Pirates’ strength is in their midfield,” Harley said.
“They’re going to go to Jake (Douglas) to set the platform for them.
“We’ve got to try to make sure we have that low tackle focus.”
Pirates coach Andrew Verrell’s biggest concern is they are coming in stale compared to the Blue Boars.
That said they haven’t been worrying too much about their opposition.
“We’ve been completely focused on trying to fix up our problems,” Verrell said.
For one, they have to limit their turnover and mistake rate, with the plan to deny the Blue Boars the chance to attack.
“If we actually have the ball, they can’t attack,” he said.
They’ve also put a lot of emphasis on their defence.
While they are not as potent as last year, Verrell hasn’t got any problem with their ability to attack.
But if they can emulate what they’ve done in the past defensively, that will give them the chance to frustrate Narrabri.
Verrell knows the Blue Boars will be looking to attack them up front.
“They’ll have a good crack at us in the forwards,” he said.
“We’ve just got to step up a little bit.”
