The chance to make amends in front of a vocal home crowd is what Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles Coach Steven Hales is looking forward to this Saturday at Lottoland.
The Sea Eagles suffered a disappointing 23-4 loss to Western Suburbs Magpies at Leichhardt Oval in the opening round of the NSW Cup last Saturday.
Blacktown Workers now get the chance to show what they are capable of when they tackle North Sydney Bears at Lottoland on Saturday at 5.20pm.
Hales said his team put themselves under plenty of pressure with some poor handling against the Magpies. The team had a 66% completion rate compared to Wests’ 79%
“We found it really hard to get some rhythm and fluency in attack. We took a lot of petrol out of ourselves through unforced errors and poor discipline,’’ Hales said.
“Our video session on Monday was a very honest one. The boys are working hard at training by doing extras to make sure we rectify the issues from last week.
“I thought we tried really hard in defence. We just put ourselves under a bit of pressure and left ourselves with too much work to do.
“We are very excited for the challenge of playing Norths at Lottoland. This is a good opportunity for the boys to get in front of our home crowd and hopefully turn in a really good performance.”
In a beaten side, Hales praised prop Andy Saunders (below) for his leadership.
“You can see why Andy Saunders has been a stalwart of our game. He has played first grade and is a real leader,’’ Hales said.
“He is one of those players guys just love to play next to. We saw that on the weekend. He is someone you would love to be in the trenches with.”
Five-eighth Luke Metcalf had a fine game for the Sea Eagles, scoring the team’s only try and showing plenty of skills in his 131 metres for the match.
“Luke is a very talented player and people need to remember he can still play in the U20s,’’ Hales added.
“There are some things that he has got as a footballer that you can’t coach. For him, it is about education and getting used to playing against men.
“What he does between those brilliant moments and controlling the game is going to be the challenge for him.”
