The pointy end of the season is creeping up and teams will be looking to find some form before we reach the finals series. The top eight of the Sydney Shield is fairly spread out with Wenty currently leading the pack. Windsor Wolves are close on their tail in second, Mounties are in third and Peninsula round out the top four.
The remainder of the top eight is looking more certain every week, however it is sure to be a tight finish to the season with all clubs still mathematically able to make the cut.
This week’s match of the round sees Hills District travelling to HE Laybutt Sporting Complex to take on Blacktown workers this Saturday at 1pm.
Hills coach Paul Griffin will be looking for his team to continue continue their form before an extended break.
“We’ve had three weeks off, so we gave the players a week rest,” Griffin says. "We then picked it up and focused on getting the little things right in our game. It’s a good time of the year to be able to freshen up.
“We just need to do the little things, like hold the footy and we’ll win. Simple errors have been letting us down and if we get those out of our game and can control the footy, we’ll be tough for anyone."
Hills fullback Scott Hogan is one of the competition’s leading try scorers and is one of a few who have been standouts to coach Griffin.
“I’ve been most impressed with the younger guys, in particular Harlan Alaalatoa. Their attitude at training has been great and more than impressive.”
Griffin doesn’t want to play his cards too early but knows how important the remainder of the season is.
“If we don’t go into the semis with some form it's going to be a tough ask," Griffin says.
"We need to be building into it and hopefully that’s what we’ll be doing. This will be a big week for us. If results go the way that they should, we’ll end up in fourth position.”
In other matches this week, Auburn will take on Belrose, Windsor encounter Western Suburbs, Peninsula face Wenty, Guildford battle Cabramatta, East Campbelltown will challenge Asquith and Mounties have the bye.
