Darryl Rando has made no changes in his Greater Northern Tigers under-18 side for Saturday's second-round Laurie Daley Cup clash against the Central Coast Roosters in Wyong.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Tigers are coming off a 30-22 first-round win over the North Coast Bulldogs but tackle a Roosters outfit Rando knows will be tougher to beat, especially on home soil at Morry Breen Oval, Wyong.
"This is another step up for them," said the former premiership-winning Scone captain and coach.
Read also:
"We had no injuries from that win [against the Bulldogs]. They played well but they had a few lapses too."
Rando's spine - No 1 Mitch Henderson, No 6 Ethan Antzakles, No 7 Pichai Dixon and No 9 Harry Reid - were important cogs against the Bulldogs.
Props Mark Simon and Jake Clydesdale produced a mountain of work, complimented by aggressive hits and runs from blossoming lock Sam Fechner.
Fechner scored two tries, won the match ball and will be a major part of any success the side has, while second-rowers Luke Smith and Hayden Bull also have big jobs on Saturday.
The Tigers' under-16 side - who play the Roosters in the earlier game on Saturday - are coming off a first- round loss to North Coast, a game they lost 28-12 after leading 12-8 at halftime.
Nothing went right for the Tigers in the second 30-minute stanza - something their coach Brett Jarrett is hoping to rectify.
Jarrett welcomes back Gunnedah prop Matty Ross from injury and into the starting side.
"He's a big unit," Jarrett said. "He's two metre tall and 105-110kg and will really strengthen our middle. He had a head knock in a recent trial and we just wanted to make sure he was ready to go."
That meant Brady Roser got a late call-up last week and was one of the Tigers' best.
He moves back to the bench for Saturday's clash.
Jarrett has rewarded Gabriel Stafa with a starting position in the second-row.
"It's all a learning curve," Jarrett said of his side.
The Tigers' men and women's squads go into trial games against Newcastle Maitland Region at Newcastle on Saturday afternoon missing key players.
Brad McManus' men's squad has lost Dungowan captain-coach Shaun Ferguson after he suffered a knee injury playing oz tag in Tamworth on Thursday afternoon.
He had trained strongly with the Tigers on Wednesday.
While he has suffered a medial ligament injury, he is hopeful he will only miss two weeks of action.
His loss exacerbates the predicament McManus has with a lack of "big men" in his team, prompting him to plan a "small, mobile attack" on the Country Championship.
Greater Northern Tigers women's coach Mick Schmiedel has also been stung by the loss of two of his players.
Amber Russell and his daughter, Abby Schmiedel, are both out.
"At the moment we have 20 players," he said.
