INJURED Orange CYMS captain-coach Mick Sullivan has warned his side must improve if it's to successfully negotiate its first road trip of the 2014 Group 10 season.
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Enjoying a dream run over the first five weeks of the year, the green and golds haven’t ventured any further than Wade Park with the club’s sole away fixture to begin another premiership defence against cross-town rivals Orange Hawks in round one.
Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Tigers in Oberon and following an insipid 26-22 win over Bathurst Panthers last week, Sullivan is seeing danger signs.
“I’ve said for a while now, last week and this week are danger games for us,” Sullivan said.
“It’s our first road trip of the season, we’ve been pretty lucky with our run of home games, so (travelling) is a bit foreign for us.
“It can be a tough place to travel to, but we’ve been fortunate since I’ve been at CYMS, we’ve never had a bad day over at Oberon. It’s a great country ground with a good atmosphere, I really enjoy it. That’s what country footy is about.”
CYMS welcome back dynamic centre Dan Stuart from injury, while gun prop Zac Bohan will also make his return from injury off the bench.
Sullivan is eyeing off the return of both as a stabilising sign of things to come for the defending premiers.
“Things have been a bit patchy,” he said, with inconsistency plaguing CYMS despite the club being four wins from as many games to begin the 2014 season.
“We’ve had a few changes each week, but I think it just comes down to concentrating for the full 80 minutes, not 20 on, 20 off, 20 on, 20 off. It’s about building consistency.”
Scott Piper retains his place in the green and gold three-quarter line with Luke Coleman retreating to the bench.
Pat Galea will start in place of the injured Kyran Bubb (thumb).
Sunday’s game against the Tigers in Oberon kicks off at 2.30pm.
ORANGE CYMS: 1 Tim Bassmann, 2 Jarrod Robbins, 3 Scott Piper, 4 Dan Stuart, 5 Semisi Katoa, 6 Ben McAlpine, 7 Tom Stonestreet, 8 Des Knight, 9 Sam Hill, 10 Brent Colley, 11 Pat Galea, 12 Riley Law, 13 Ben Gosper.
