The Maitland Blacks will welcome an in-form University side to Marcellin Park this Saturday knowing a win will have them outright second on the Hunter Premier Rugby ladder.
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The Blacks and the Students are equal on 14 points after five rounds behind Merewether, the only undefeated team left in the competition.
University have beaten Hamilton and Wanderers in the past two matches. Maitland were 31-20 victors when the two sides met in round one.
Maitland coach Luke Cunnigham said University will prove a stern test after the Students made it three straight wins with a 21-19 triumph over Wanderers at Bernie Curran Oval on Saturday.
"They've improved a lot over the last two or three weeks, they've got a couple of really good players back and they'll be a really good test for us," he said.
"They're sitting equal second with us so it's a really important match to cement that second spot on the ladder.
"Uni typically have a very strong set-piece so we need to make sure this weekend that's on the money and that we retain our own ball at line-outs and scrums."
Marcellin Park will host 'Back to Blacks Day' this Saturday, the traditional old boys day
"That'll add a different dimension to playing another top three side which will be really good," Cunnigham said.
The Blacks were dominant winners against Southern Beaches on Saturday, May 13, running in eight tries.
Cunnigham said he was pleased with the performance of fly-half Harerangi Meihana through the early rounds of the competition.
"He's really taking the line on in attack and creating some opportunities for himself but also for men out wide," he said.
"He's putting the defence in two minds so he's playing really well, Mick Taylor in the last couple of weeks has shifted to centre and is seeing a little more ball during a game, he's been playing really well as well."
Cunnigham said the big focus for the Blacks was maintaining a high standard throughout the match.
"I'm happy with where we are sitting from a ladder perspective but we still have a lot of improvement, the big one being our ability to play for a full 80 minutes," he said.
"We show some really great signs in patches but we need to be able to do that for a full 80 minutes and had we done that against Merewether and Hamilton it would be a completely different story."
Kick-off against University is at 3pm.
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Ben Carr
Starting out as a reporter in Lightning Ridge in 2005, I returned to journalism in 2023 after 15 years spent in event production and technical services. Passionate about community news, contact me on ben.carr@austcommunitymedia.com.au or ph: 0484 524 000
Starting out as a reporter in Lightning Ridge in 2005, I returned to journalism in 2023 after 15 years spent in event production and technical services. Passionate about community news, contact me on ben.carr@austcommunitymedia.com.au or ph: 0484 524 000
