There’s been some self-examination happening in the Dubbo Kangaroos camp as the club looks to put an end to its battle for consistency.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Roos are yet to win consecutive matches during the 2018 Blowes Clothing Cup season and last week’s loss to the Cowra Eagles at No. 1 Oval was the latest in a number of frustrating showings.
Captain Shaun McHugh laughed when saying winning was the simple way to end the frustration and disappointment and while changing personnel and injuries has played a role, the skipper did feel there was a real reason the side has struggled for consistency.
“Us senior blokes probably aren’t pulling rank each week and stepping up so that’s been a bit of a focus for us blokes who have been around the side for a few years,” he said ahead of this weekend’s game against Orange City.
“We’ve got to step up and set the tone, maintain the level of intensity we want and then raise the bar when needed.
“Everyone has to take ownership of their role, not just wait for someone else to do something.
“There’s probably more people who haven’t been taking ownership of their role and if we can fix that then we’ll start seeing much better performances.”
The Roos are home again this weekend, taking on a City side which defeated them back in the corresponding match at Orange earlier this season.
The Dubbo side began that match well and led 20-3 at half time but McHugh and others confessed the Roos drifted from the gameplan from there and that allowed City to storm back and seal a 32-27 victory.
“After seeing Cowra beat us here last week they’ll be keen to knock us over,” McHugh said of City.
“I think they’re a team that’s going to score a few upsets and push sides but at the moment I think the bounce of the ball isn’t going their way and, like us, they struggle a bit for consistency.”
City comes into the match having only just been beaten by Forbes last week.
Saturday’s match is an important one for the Roos in terms of a confidence-boost but it’s also vital leading into the bye and then one of the most difficult stretches of the season.
After the general bye on the long weekend the Roos travel to Bathurst to take on a firing Bulldogs side while that is followed by a trip to Orange to take on the Emus juggernaut.
“We’ve got to be switched on because we’d like to go into that bye with a win,” McHugh said.
The skipper added no one is a “walk-up start” to play with a number of second-graders pushing to earn a start in the main game.
The Roos side was to be confirmed at training on Thursday night.
Kick-off is 3.15pm.