A key to beating Narrabri is “getting into the grind of the match”, says Bulldogs coach Sean Hayne, whose side aims to erase the Blues’ unbeaten record in round-five action at Kitchener Oval on Sunday.
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The season is still relatively young, but so far only one team got into the grind against Narrabri. In round one, the Blues edged reigning premiers North Tamworth 32-28 at home.
Since then, Narrabri have been unrelenting in their dedication to ruthlessly dispose of the opposition: the Robins fell 80-10, Wee Waa’s 116-4 pratfall will live on in infamy, while the postscript to Sunday’s 82-6 defeat of Collegian was supplied by plain-speaking Blues coach John Rumsby, who essentially said his players were disinterested during the match, despite the scoreline.
So that is the challenge awaiting Gunnedah this weekend. Whether they can get into the grind with Narrabri hinges on them being able to find another level. There were pockets of play where they did that in their 34-14 round-three loss to the Bears at Jack Woolaston Oval.
Hayne – in his first season as Bulldogs coach after mentoring the Bears’ under-18 side to consecutive premierships the past two season – is looking for more consistency from his players.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs thumped a South West side gutted of players following last season’s grand final shame – the final score 76-0. But Hayne said there were about 20 minutes of the match where the side’s form was substandard.
Repeating that against Narrabri would be fatal, one suspects he knows, like it was against the Bears.
“We were pretty good (against South West) for maybe 60 minutes,” he said. “We started off okay and then we sort of dropped, dropped a few balls, lost a bit of intensity for 20-odd minutes. But the last 55 (minutes) was pretty pleasing.
“The way the boys defended, to keep them to nil, was probably the most pleasing thing .. we seem to be improving (defensively) but we’ll have to be a bit better this week against Narrabri.”
When people talk about Narrabri’s 2017 season in the future, perhaps one of the main recollections will be of Blues fullback Brenton Cochrane streaking towards the tryline, the running gait effortless.
Cochrane has been in menacing form this year, carving up defensive lines. You sense a real joy embodies him when he does so – and his need to feed that desire should pose problems for the Bulldogs, if he plays. Rumsby was recently succinct in his praise of Cochrane: “He’s a footballer.”
Hayne is also a fan. “I seen him play a few years ago when he was out at Wee Waa,” he said. “He’s very quick … he’s a talented player. We’ll try and do our best to limited his opportunities and shut him down if we can, which could be easier said than done. We’ll have to work on a few things at training.”
In other Group 4 First Division matches this weekend, the Bears take on the Robins at home on Saturday and Collegian play Wee Waa at Jack Woolaston Oval on Sunday.
