NARRABRI coach Hunter Harley will have to lace up the boots again at Inverell tomorrow, with half-back Matt Schwager in Sydney playing for NSW Country.
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The Blue Boars skipper has been named at nine for the Cockatoos for their annual grudge match against NSW Suburban at Drummoyne.
He’ll be joined in Country gold by Pirates star Jake Douglas, who will start at 13.
Schwager’s absence leaves the Blue Boars short a half-back but, as he did against Scone last week, Harley will fill the void.
At the other end of the spectrum, Central North U20s rep Sam Knight is poised to make his first grade starting debut at number eight after impressing off the bench.
He comes in for the injured Daniel Kahl with Sam Clements moving back into the second row.
“He’s been too good to ignore,” Harley said.
He had been putting it off with Knight about to head off overseas but “his form just warranted his inclusion”.
It’s a game, on form, the Blue Boars should win but they are wary of a desperate Highlanders side.
“They’re playing for their season,” Harley said.
With just one win so far, their top five aspirations are slipping away with each loss.
They also bring an element of unpredictability to the table.
“We’ve never had an easy game against Inverell,” Harley said. “They’ve got some good footballers.”
And from what he’s heard from Moree, last week was a lot closer than the 35-7 scoreline indicates.
It’s an equally important game for them as they fight for positioning in the top five.
The points will all but assure them a spot in the top tier but they still have Gunnedah and Moree to play, which aren’t “going to be easy games”.
Harley said they’ve paid a lot of attention this week to the simple things like catching and passing, and clearing past the ball.
He thought they were poor in those areas against the Brumbies.
They’ve also worked on holding their depth.
That’s something else they didn’t do that well last week.
In other games tomorrow, Walcha host Quirindi, Barraba travels to Gunnedah in a third-fourth battle, Scone heads to Tamworth and Pirates trek up to Moree for what is arguably the clash of the round.
