By Jake Bull
The Illawarra Cutters are again at home this week when they face the Wentworthville Magpies at WIN Stadium, Wollongong on Saturday.
Coming off a disappointing loss at the hands of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, the Cutters will be looking to bounce back against their lower ranked opponent.
The Magpies head into the clash on the bottom of the table but were able to get two vital points against the Newcastle Knights so they will have some confidence.
The last time these two sides met it was a close affair with the visitors coming away with a slender 18-16 victory in round 4.
The Cutters have turned their form around since that game and hadn’t been defeated since round 9 prior to last weekend’s game.
Cutters Head Coach, Scott Logan, was very disappointed with the first half performance of the side last weekend, which saw the team head into the break down 30-0.
He hopes that they can turn it around this week with a much better performance.
“It was pretty unacceptable actually, particularly the first half. It was one of those weeks coming off the bye and we addressed a few things and knew the challenges in front of us,” said Logan.
“We just got beat to the punch in every aspect of that first half so it’s really disappointing from that point of view.
“I sensed our last ball work session was a little bit lackadaisical. I put a lot of emphasis on nailing that last session and showing plenty of energy but I did sense it was a little off but I didn’t expect that performance.”
The Cutters have named a side featuring several different players across the park including second-rower Chris Lewis and lock Tekina Vailea.
After a good second half last week, both Justin Hunt and Russell Packer will be looking to use their experience to help the team to a victory in what shapes to be a good crowd, playing before the first-grade squad on Saturday night.
The Magpies, being the feeder side for the Parramatta Eels, have a quality team despite their position on the ladder and will look to former Cutters players Adam Quinlan and Beau Henry to get them across the line.
