NARRABRI have had to call in the reinforcements for their blockbuster match-up with Pirates at Ken Chillingworth Oval today as they count the cost of their win over Moree.
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On top of skipper Matt Schwager, who is in Campbelltown leading the NSW Country Cockatoos against the Queensland Country Heelers in their annual clash for the Battle of the Borders Cup, the Blue Boars are without Matt McDonnell, Michael Cain and Mitch Kelly.
All three were injured last week.
It’s a situation their opposition are all too familiar with and all sides have to deal with but coach Hunter Harley is optimistic about their chances.
“The way we have evolved as a club, and with our structure, I go to Pirates still happy with what we’ll run on the field,” he said.
And feeling that if they can replicate what they did last week they can get the result.
Not that they have dwelled too much on last week.
“That’s done now,” Harley said.
“The biggest thing is we don’t want to go out and under-perform and undo the work we’ve done.”
There was only six in it last time they played Pirates but Harley hasn’t paid much attention to that game.
It wasn’t a good performance from them.
What they have to do in principle remains the same though – limit the impact of Jake Douglas.
It’s not quite as simple as “stop Douglas, stop Pirates”, but minimising his influence will go a long way towards winning the game.
“We know he’s their go-to man in attack and he’ll pull off that big turnover in defence,” Harley said.
Pirates’ cause will be helped by Schwager’s absence.
Coach Andrew Verrell felt he was the difference last time they met.
“It’ll bring them back a bit. The gap closes a bit,” he said.
That said, it won’t be their first game without him.
“I really have no idea how this game is going to transpire,” Verrell admitted.
“But it’ll give us an indication of where we’re at.”
The Blue Boars, as defending champions, are the benchmark.
“I’m confident with the way we can play. It’s a matter of whether we can put it together on the day,” Verrell said.
“That was a pretty impressive win of theirs against Moree.”
It makes today a “quantum” step up for them.
“The main thing for us will be putting their forwards on the ground as early as we can,” Verrell said.
“That’s the standard thing we need to take into every game from here on in.”
Then there’s the usual of cutting down their errors.
“If we can get parity I think we can take a crack at them,” he said.
