BARRABA kicks off a tough and potentially season-defining few weeks with an all-Rams battle at Barraba Rugby Park today.
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After Walcha today, the Rams head to Moree, before hosting Pirates.
How they fare in those three games could go a long way to deciding if, or where, they figure in the top five.
They couldn’t have set themselves up much better with just the one loss from their five games.
“Our goal at the start of the season was to win four from five,” Barraba coach Nick Bomford said.
He is anticipating a real battle today.
“Walcha and Barraba have a history of having really tough games,” he said.
“They’ve got great backs and they also scrum and ruck well.”
One of the foundations of Barraba’s success has been their defence.
They boast the fourth best defensive record in the competition and Bomford has particularly been pleased with their scrambling defence.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do on our one-on-one defence,” Bomford said.
“That’s the only thing I was not impressed with (last week against Gunnedah).
“We let them get a few easy breaks.”
They can’t afford to do that today against a Walcha side that can create opportunities from anything.
They head to Barraba fighting to keep their spot in the five and bracing for a Rams side on a roll.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Walcha co-coach Barry Hoy said.
“They’re firing pretty well.”
They’ve won their last four.
Even not in that form they are tough to beat at home with Barraba regarded as one of the toughest places to win.
“They seem to be reasonably strong all over the park,” Hoy said. Their forwards look good and from some of the footage and reports he’s seen they have some slick backs.
“We’ve got to dominate their forwards,” Hoy said.
That’s where it starts for them.
The pack will be bolstered by the return of front row bookends Ross Fletcher and Sam Martin.
They’re a significant factor. Not only will they strengthen their scrum, which struggled against Quirindi last week, but they also provide a lot of go-forward for them.
Hoy said the breakdown will also be critical.
Barraba is renowned for the way they compete there.
“We’ve got to be clinical at the breakdown with our cleanout,” he said.
“And we’ve got to play for the 80 minutes.”
The other big thing for them will be the lineout.
“We’ve been working heavily on our lineout,” Hoy said.
“They were good last week but they’ve got to be good every week.”
Their inability to win their lineout ball really hurt them against Pirates two weeks ago.
TABLE: Moree 25, Narrabri 24, Barraba 18, Gunnedah 15, Walcha 13, Tamworth 11, Pirates 11, Inverell 6, Scone 6, Quirindi 0.
