THROUGHOUT last weekend’s 27-5 mauling of the Parkes Boars, Orange Emus showed the kind of fortitude all of the good sides have relied on to claim the spoils in big Blowes Clothing Cup contests in seasons past.
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That same fortitude will be tested again on Saturday.
Leaving the comfort of Endeavour Oval, Emus will land at Dubbo’s Victoria Park to tackle the Roos, a side many Central West Rugby Union pundits predict will be there when the Blowes Clothing Cup whips are cracking in August.
Confident in what he witnessed in last week’s bonus point win, Emus coach Andrew Logan says his players have upped the ante in defence to begin the club’s 2014 campaign.
And given Emus’ record of 17.3 points against through three games this season is the third best in the competition, it’s hard to argue with Logan’s conviction.
“[Defence is] something we worked hard on last year and we’ve continued to work hard on it this year,” Logan said.
“We’ve recognised defence is something all of the good teams do really well. If you look at Orange City, last year they conceded something like five less points per game than their nearest opposition. It’s no coincidence success has followed them.”
Emus have endured one of the toughest opening months of any team this season.
Two trips to Bathurst - the first a loss against the Bulldogs while the second was more fruitful netting a 51-12 win over CSU - were followed by last weekend’s confidence-boosting triumph over a physical Boars.
The fourth week, Dubbo, shapes as Emus’ toughest assignment yet.
“It won’t be all that different to any other tough game against tough teams,” Logan predicted.
“We’ll have to get hard up off our line and really maintain our defence throughout the game. If we can keep that up we’ll create enough opportunities to score points. That’s the cornerstone of everything we’re doing.”
Of the side that beat Parkes comfortably last weekend, Shane Udy and Adam Perri aren’t available for the trip to Dubbo.
Rob Thorburn moves to No.8 while the returning Sam Ryan will slot back in at five-eighth and Tim Alison will play at inside centre.
ORANGE EMUS: 1 Nas Havealeta, 2 Keith Howarth, 3 Brent Braithwaite, 4 Sam McLean, 5 Tom Fenuelelei, 6 Alo Finau, 7 Sam Chamberlain, 8 Rob Thorburn, 9 TJ Cunynghame, 10 Sam Ryan, 11 Tom Green, 12 Tim Alison, 13 Nigel Staniforth, 14 Carter Hirini, 15 Lachlan Harris.
