BARBARIANS will be wanting to make amends when they tackle Armidale tomorrow.
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Last time the two sides met the Blues smacked them by 52 points.
It was a result that surprised many, not the result as such but the margin, with the Baa Baas having a good win over St Albert’s in the opening round.
Tomorrow will be their first game since then after having the bye last weekend.
They’ve had plenty to ponder over the break and know what they need to do to get the result – it’s a matter of doing it.
One of their priorities will be improving their discipline, skipper Nick Dooner said.
“We had two yellow cards,” Dooner said.
It left them a player down for 20 minutes.
Against Albies they also received two yellows.
They got away with it then but didn’t against a Blues side that played with real command and precision.
“Discipline is a massive thing,” Dooner said.
“You can’t win with players off the field.”
It was one of those days where they just “couldn’t really get it together”.
They weren’t helped by losing five-eighth recruit Sam Blatchford to a broken leg about 15 minutes in.
“That threw us right off,” Dooner said.
Chris Heywood is likely to slip back in there for tomorrow. He was their five-eighth when they won the premiership two years ago.
Along with their discipline, Dooner said coach Sam Piddington had spoken about making effort on effort.
The Blues should be, on paper, a stronger side than two weeks ago.
They were missing five of their key players but at least a couple of those should be back tomorrow.
They’ll also be smarting after going down to Albies last week.
In the other game, Albies and Robb clash in their annual Parents’ Weekend fixture.