Sea Eagles Head Coach Geoff Toovey has given his final thoughts on Saturday night’s match up against the St George Illawarra Dragons at Win Stadium, Wollongong.
It’s been 12 years since the Sea Eagles have tasted victory at the coastal venue, but despite matches being somewhat of a rarity, it’s a record Geoff Toovey is hoping to re-write.
The Red V are coming off a strong second half performance against the Canberra Raiders, while the men in maroon and white are looking to get back to their winning ways after going down to the Dogs.
"It was tough last week. I thought we played well enough to win the game but a couple of vital errors let us down, [but] we just need to correct those errors this week,” Toovey said.
“It is going to be very tough this week in the ‘Gong against St George-Illawarra.”
“They’re a great side with some great talent. I think they’re just struggling to find those combinations but I think that win last week will give them a lot of confidence and I think we’ll see a much more determined effort from them from the whistle.”
“The Dragons are starting with Trent Merrin now and I think that will give them a great boost from the kick-off, so it will be a bit of a different pack running on to the field.”
It’s only early, but the criticisms have been coming thick and fast for both sides. Toovey has had to tinker with his side due to unfortunate injuries in the opening weeks, but is happy to be seeing two of his best back in the side this week.
“[Having Foran] is a big plus for us. He’s a great organiser on the field and I think that will give us some steadiness and some composure come fourth and fifth tackle.”
“We’ve still got some doubts about Steve Matai, but we’ll see how he goes today with some contact. It will be a great boost to have Kieran and Jamie Lyon back.”
While crossing his fingers that it wouldn’t come it, the coach even had a unique suggestion on who could be lining up to take the conversions on the weekend if injuries occur…
“I think I’ll have to run on myself and kick a couple,” Toovhey said with a smile.
“We’ve got a couple of blokes who are very good at training but game time is a bit different as you saw last week and it probably cost us a little bit, but we’re pretty confident that we can come up with the goods and get someone to put it between the sticks.”
A win at WIN will help the Sea Eagles kick-start their season ahead of next weekend’s clash against the Canberra Raiders at Lavington Sports Ground, Albury.
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