Maitland Pickers coach Luke Dorn admits to a few nerves leading into last Saturday's opening match against the Cessnock Goannas.
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“I felt a bit of pressure, we wanted to put in a good performance in our first game back at the sportsground and in your first game as coach you’re never really certain how much the team has brought into and understood your game plan,” Dorn said.
“The boys were terrific, from the start it was obvious they were up for it and had taken on board the messages of the past 12 weeks of pre-season.”
But as delighted as he was with the defensive effort to keep the Goannas scoreless and an attacking sharpness to put on 36 points, Dorn and his playing group know there is room for improvement and will need to when they face South Newcastle at Townson Oval on Sunday.
“There are areas of our defence, including our line speed which we need to address.
“We also can improved our ball handling a lot. We were in a position to probably put on another couple of tries but dropped the ball.”
Dorn expects to make only one change to the line-up with Tim Watson to come into the side to replace injured front-rower Rob Mason, who suffered a kneed injury in a tackle shortly before half-time.
Mason underwent a scan on his knee on Thursday and the Pickers are hopeful he will return to the line-up this season.
“Rob was outstanding over the pre-season and made a really good start to the game on Saturday before he was injured. Speaking to him earlier this week he remains positive about the injury. He said he didn’t feel as the last one,” Dorn said.
The entire Pickers forward pack delivered on Saturday, led by front-row giant Dan Tilse who tore the Goannas defence apart.
Young Knight Jaden Butterfield was also very strong and if he continues his form he may soon be recalled to the NSW Cup.
It can be hard for the guys coming back from the Knights. They only get one night to train with us and they are dealing with the disappointment of not being selected in the Knights.
“Jaden shows none of that and as a Maitland junior loves being part of what we’re doing. He played a lot of minutes which is important having just eight interchanges.”
The trump card in defence and attack was the combination of hooker Adam Clydsdale and Jarrod Smith in the middle of the field.
“Both Adam and Jarrod are 80 minute players, which takes some of the pressure off in terms of interchange,” Dorn said.
“Smithy had an immediate impact when he came on in the 15th minute and the two of them remained on for the rest of the game together.
“Smithy was able to move into dummy half to give Adam a break and then played for want of a better term a running forward role.
“They both have great defence and are great runners with the ball.”
