First Group 2 road trip carries expectation for the Rebels
IT IS a new week for the South Grafton Rebels, but the same line-up as last week’s will take on the Sawtell Panthers at Rex Hardaker Oval tomorrow.
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IT IS a new week for the South Grafton Rebels, but the same line-up as last week's will take on the Sawtell Panthers at Rex Hardaker Oval tomorrow.
However, coach Dallas Waters is expecting a very different performance to his troops' effort in their 40-18 round one loss to the Woolgoolga Seahorses.
In that game, the Rebels gave away mountains of possession and when they didn't have the ball, they found themselves on the wrong end of an increasingly lopsided penalty count.
"I'm persevering with the same team," Waters said.
"Last week we just didn't get ourselves into a position to build pressure against Woolgoolga.
"We will focus on doing the basics, getting a fair share of the ball and completing our sets."
Waters is under no illusions life in Group 2 is about to get any easier.
Sawtell is coming off a 34-14 away win over the Bellingen Magpies and will be confident on their home turf.
It will be the Rebels' first road trip of the season, after their forgettable home display at McKittrick Park.
"It is always much harder to steal the two points when they're at home," Waters said. "We've certainly got to be on our game - get our backyard in order and give Jay Melrose and Aaron Martin a chance to set us up out wide."
First grade starts at 2.30pm.
REBELS LINE-UP
1. Brogan Melrose
2. Andrew Gillett
3. Michael Randall
4. Donald Johnson
5. Anthony Skinner
6. Aaron Martin
7. Jay Melrose
8. Ian Leota
9. Rhys Walters
10. Vincent Duroux
11. Dwayne Duke
12. Karl Woodley
13. Luke Welsh
Interchange
14. Ben Woods
15. Matthew McLennan
16. Ronald Gordon
17. Tasman Randall
Originally published as First Group 2 road trip carries expectation for the Rebels