Maitland Pickers and Kurri Kurri Bulldogs have big asks ahead of them when they take on the two leading teams in the Newcastle Rugby League competition.
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The Pickers are away to second-placed Macquarie Scorpions, who are coming off a huge 34-6 win over Western Suburbs.
The Scorpions have dropped just two matches in the season so far, and haven’t lost a game since round two back in April.
Pickers coach Trevor Ott said last week’s 50-6 loss to Kurri was unacceptable and that his side needed to go “back to basics” to improve on their performance.
He said the team had been working on tightening up around the ruck and controlling the speed of the game.
But the Pickers will be calling on their lower grade players to back up for the first grade match as they continue to be plagued by injuries and retirements.
Dan Randell has missed the majority of the season due to an ankle injury, winger Josh Morrison is still out with a shoulder injury, Bailey Jenkins is recovering from an ankle injury suffered in pre-season and Luke Mercer sustained a shoulder injury last week after returning from a calf strain.
Ott said the game will be a tough one, but expected his players to stand up to the strong Scorpions side.
“I don’t want us to be intimidated,” he said.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Ott said he hoped to have a few of the injured players back in the side soon to relieve the pressure on the lower grades going into the finals.
Maitland is currently sitting fifth on the reserve grade ladder and the Pickers open grade side is leading the competition.
Kurri hosts the number one ranked side Lakes United Seagulls, who had a strong 48-22 victory over South Newcastle last week.
The Bulldogs are carrying a bit of confidence into their match-up with Lakes after last week’s powerful win over Maitland.
But coach Phil Williams said the team understood the gravity of this week’s clash.
“It’s going to be a very good challenge,” he said.
“We’ve got to be right at the top of our game.”
Williams said the Seagulls were a side that “don’t make mistakes,” and had a very strong kicking game.
Lakes have only lost the one game and had two draws this season, and they are the reigning premiers.
But one of Lakes draws was against Kurri at their own home ground.
“We matched them when we had the draw,” he said.
“They might not have been at their peak but we took it too them.”
Despite last week’s commanding victory, Williams said his side has been working on tidying up a few things from their match against Maitland, including tackle selection, communication and pressure on the kicks.
“Our kick chases have got to be near perfect,” Williams said.
“Our forwards have got to be very dominant.
The Bulldogs recovered well from their win against Maitland, and will field the same side for this week’s match.
Lakes also lead the reserve grade competition, while Kurri is in fourth place, and in the open grade division Kurri is inside the top five.
All matches in this weekend’s Newcastle Rugby League round are washout games from week eight of the competition.