Wheatmen wary of Gatton

Dalby Wheatmen coach Nathan Bradley said his side needs to be careful of a youthful UQ Gatton team.

ALL SQUARE: The Dalby Wheatmen during their draw against Gatton last year. Picture: Alasdair Young

UNION: The Dalby Wheatmen are set to take to John Ritter Oval for the first time this season and will be looking to bounce back after a tough loss in the grand final rematch last weekend.

Travelling to Goondiwindi to take on the Emus, the Wheatmen were ambushed by the home side who turned in a 80 minute performance that resulted in a 27-10 win.

Coach Nathan Bradley believes the loss has provided a platform to kickstart the remainder of the season.

'We've got a lot of positives to take out of last weeks game,” Bradley said.

"Our set piece was poor and our preparation for the match wasn't great, so they can be improved.

"We defended for 65% of the game and it just left nothing in our legs when we'd try and turn defence into attack.”

The sides attention turns to Gatton tomorrow, a team that has made an 0-2 start to the year but will not be overlooked by Bradley.

"It really is a danger game just like last weekend; we actually drew with them last year.

"You can't underestimate anyone in this competition so the boys will need to have the right attitude and be hungry against them.”

Gatton's off the cusp style of play caused the Wheatmen headaches last campaign, a headache that may return tomorrow because of the students willingness to play a style of rugby that can't be prepared for.

Bradley is wary of the potential that Gatton posses, but believes if his team sticks to their game plan they'll come out of the match with four points.

"Gatton is a side you can't plan for because they youth, they play an unstructured style of footy and you can't train for that.

"We need to play structured football for 80 minutes, we were sucked into Goondiwindi's style last weekend.

"We can't let the same thing happen again or we'll have our pants pulled down.”

The Wheatchix are also in action tomorrow in their second outing of the season.

The women's team made a great start to the year, knocking off the Condamine Codettes in round 1 12-5.

That game marked the first competitive female rugby game in the Darling Downs.

The side will play games against Gatton and Condamine throughout tomorrow.

The girls first game is against Condamine at 1.10pm, after the Wheatmen's C grade clash against Gatton at midday.

Kick off in the main game is at 3.15pm at John Ritter Oval.