Warialda coach Peter Stevens will be a busy man when the Greater Northern Tigers clash with North Coast in four Country Championships matches at Coffs Harbour on Saturday.
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The former Group 19 premiership-winning hooker and coach combines his roles as a CRL development officer and Greater Northern Academy coach with his mentoring duties with the Tigers' under-18 and under-23 sides.
He also coached both teams last season but, unlike this year, they played on different days.
“The 18s were finished by the time the 23s started their Country Championship [campaign],” he said. “This is the first time they’ve played at the same time.”
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His under-18 Tigers have won one of their three games but are improving and are coming off an 18-12 loss to the Parramatta Eels at Singleton’s Pirtek Park last Saturday.
He’s confident they can turn their luck around and keep their Country Championship hopes alive. “We just need to tweak a few things,” he said.
“The boys only completed 15 of 30 sets against Newcastle [but still won] and last week they made 21 mistakes against the Eels.
“Most of the pressure we create is with our defence. We’re just making fundamental mistakes. If we can fix that, I think we have got some good scores in us.”
About 90 minutes after the 18s go around, Stevens will be back on the sideline to oversee the under-23s in their Country Championships opener.
The Tigers under-16 will attempt to win their fourth match from four outings.
Tigers women: 1 Taneika Landsborough (Guyra), 2 Toni Skuthorpe (South West Robins), 3 Lucy Prudden (Murrurundi), 4 Shae Pemberton (Muswellbrook), 5 Alyce Walsh (Uralla), 6 Amy Barraclough, capt (Uralla), 7 Robyn Broadbent (Uralla), 8 Jessyca Morgan (Merriwa), 9 Taylah Blackadder (Merriwa), 10 Amelia Tunamena (Glen Innes), 11 Brooke Davis, vice capt (Greta Branxton), 12 Lauren Clarke (Boggabri), 13 Joan O’Leary (Bendemeer), 14 Brooke O’Halloran (Uralla), 15 Sarah Byrne (Glen Innes), 16 Alisa Tunamena (Glen Innes), 17 Katelyn Smith (Uralla), 18 Zoe Darlington (South West Robins). Coach: Mick Schmiedel.
Tigers under-23: Will Nieuwenhuise (Singleton), 2 Cameron French (Aberdeen), 3 Hamish Wolfgang (Aberdeen), 4 Tristan Ward (Moree Boomerangs), 5 Dewayne Nicholls (Moree Boomerangs), 6 James Bradley (Singleton), 7 Mitchell Doring, capt (Manilla), 8 Isaac Austin (Scone), 9 Matt Gillham (Boggabri), 10 James Ballinger (Inverell), 11 Jordan Mulherin (Denman), 12 Brady Benkovic (Denman), 13 Andrew Pritchard (Denman), 14 Mitchell Sheridan (North Tamworth), 15 Scott McIntyre (Armidale Rams), 16 Hayden Smith (Gunnedah), 17 Lincon Smith (Gunnedah), 18 Harry Douglass (Aberdeen). Coach: Peter Stevens.
Tigers under-18: Kobe Bone (North Tamworth), Jhett Butler (Dungowan), Hugh Collins (Aberdeen), Steve Dengate (Muswellbrook), Harrison Freeman (Dungowan), Clay Frendin (Dungowan), Cooper Harris (Dungowan), Kyle Johnson (Dungowan), Dan Kelly (North Tamworth), Blair Maloney (Farrer), Kalab McMillan-Bassett (Narrabri), Bailey Miller-Freebairn (Denman), Brayden Reid (North Tamworth), Jackson Shade (Singleton), Mackenzie Shepherdson (Denman), Trent Taylor (Dungowan), Jack Todd (Dungowan), Sam Wentworth (Dungowan). Coach: Peter Stevens.
Tigers under-16: Clint Aitken (Dungowan), Ethan Antzakles (Farrer), Jock Brazel (Moree), Hayden Bull (Farrer), Tommy Dixon (Aberdeen), Sam Fechner (Scone), Jeff Harvey (Narrabri), Blake Johnston , Ryan Kelly-Payne (Inverell), Nick Laurie (Scone), Daltyn McCartney (Singleton), Latrell Newman (Moree), Riley Reid, Mark Simon (Farrer), Lachlan Smith (Farrer), Brayden Talbott-Hatch (Gunnedah) , Campbell Watchirs (Inverell). Coach: Steve Haylen (Muswellbrook).
