By Jake Bull and Trent Thomas
The Illawarra Cutters travel north to face the Newcastle Knights at Newcastle Sports Ground on Sunday.
Following a convincing victory against then second-placed Wentworthville Magpies, the Cutters will looking to continue their momentum and solidify their position in the top two with a victory against the eighth-placed Knights.
Head Coach Scott Logan was pleased with last round’s win and is happy with the recent offensive revolution on display by his players.
“I am pretty happy with the win putting 44-points on the team coming second which is a strong effort by all involved,” said Logan.
“We started the game pretty nervously there and we struggled to complete our early sets and they put a couple tries on us and we started to wonder if we were on the mark at all.
“Fortunately, we started to win the game through the middle and around 25-minutes in the first half we put on 24 unanswered points.
“A lot of the stuff was already in place and your coaching the best you can to constantly challenge people and get them to execute different structures.
“We have tinkered with a few little things but in the end it comes down to the players.”
The Knights last weekend were victors against the Wyong Roos and are sitting in a dangerous position, three points ahead of the ninth-placed, Newtown Jets.
A season-ending injury for Dylan Farrell, another pectoral injury after just returning from the same ailment, means he will be replaced by Geoff Daniela who was prolific in the early parts of the season.
Also named were experienced players Nathan Green, Dan Hunt and Kyle Stanley who will add to the young players who have impressed throughout the season.
For the Knights, Timana Tahu, Michael Dobson and Matt Hilder have all been named in a team that doesn’t reflect their position on the ladder.
A win for Illawarra will ensure that the chasing pack of Wests Tigers, Wentworthville Magpies and the New Zealand Warriors are kept at bay for another week.
