Stags ready to tackle Springfield
LOWOOD Tarampa gets the chance this weekend to do what no-one else in the Challenge Cup has managed this season.
The second placed Stags host unbeaten competition leaders Springfield on Saturday with coach John Harrison hoping some new plans may reap rewards.
“We’ve been working on a lot of things since the last time we played them,” he said.
“Like all good sides we’ve got to limit their time with the footy, complete our sets and do the little things right.”
Harrison wasn’t giving too much away but admits even that hasn’t been working against the seemingly unbeatable Springfield, who flogged Redbank Plains 60-0 last weekend.
He was pleased to see some of the new plays come off in his team’s 52-10 win over Laidley last weekend.
“We’ve been working on a couple of things,” Harrison said.
“We started using them against Redbank Plains, then we didn’t have a game for about three weeks.
“In that game we didn’t execute very well but last week we looked really good.
“Probably in the second half we tried a little bit too hard but overall I was really happy.
“If we can improve that much again this week we’ll do well.”
Losses to Springfield and Rosewood in the last round prompted the change in tactics.
“We were going a little bit too much sideways,” the coach said.
“But it’s starting to come together now.
“Laidley played quite well in the first 20 or 25 minutes.
“They really stuck it to us but we came through that.”
Composure when things aren’t going to plan is the other trait Harrison wants to see from his team this weekend.
“They’re the benchmark,” he said of Springfield.
“We’ve just got to keep our structures composed.
“When something goes wrong we’ve just got to hang in there and don’t fall back into bad habits.”
In this weekend’s other match, Redbank Plains hosts Rosewood on Friday.
State of play
Challenge Cup ladder after 11 rounds
Springfield 22, Lowood Tarampa 15, Rosewood 15, Redbank Plains 8, Brothers 4, Laidley 4.
Round 11 top point scorers
Corey Kirk (Springfield) 72, Beau White (Rosewood) 58, Zeb Nuuola (Springfield) 44, Ray Erbacher (Lowood) 38, Daniel Wilson (Laidley) 38.
Round 11 top try scorers
Beau White (Rosewood) 14, Zeb Nuuola (Springfield) 11, Michael Tilly (Springfield) 8, Kris Kirk (Springfield) 7, Ray Erbacher (Lowood) 7.
Round 10 Best & Fairest
Michael Frohloff (Lowood) 6, Setu Vai Vai (Springfield) 6, Josh Mair (Lowood) 5, Zeb Nuuola (Springfield) 5, Sasagi Tuilaepa (Springfield) 4.
