With the Sydney Shield moving into Round 6, most teams should have dusted off any potential cobwebs they had over the off-season. The Hills District Bulls are leading the way in the competition, being the only undefeated team with five consecutive victories.
At this point of the season it is extremely important for many teams to keep within reach of the top sides and not allow teams to get a head start.
This is no more evident than in the case of Peninsula Seagulls, who had a near perfect season in the regular rounds last year, with only the one loss. This weekend they come up against the Belrose Eagles at Lake Park on Saturday.
Both sides have had mixed starts to the year with two wins and two losses each. Belrose are coming off the bye and will be fresh for this week’s match, while Peninsula are looking to rekindle their 2014 momentum after posting two wins on the trot.
Seagulls coach Tim Gee believes the reason behind turning around their 2015 form is because they are “getting some pride back into our performances and refocus the attitude a bit,”
“A few schoolboy errors those first couple of weeks didn’t give us a chance to win any games, we’ve worked hard on some skills and taken some steps forward in our last two games,” Gee explains.
Gee also sees the value in some losses early in the season as a bit of a wake-up call for the team, who last year hit the ground running, while unfortunately fading towards the end of the season.
“A few close grinding wins is what’s going to set you for later in the year,” Gee said.
After a couple of tight grinding wins it is evident that Peninsula is getting back in their groove. Gee claims that this will be invaluable come the business end of the season.
“The competition has evened out more since last year, so learning to stay in an arm wrestle and know what you need to do to get over the top of teams is important” Gee said.
In this week’s other matches Mounties face Asquith, Auburn host Cabramatta, Wentworthville play Western Suburbs, Windsor contest Hills and Guildford battle East Campbelltown, while Blacktown have the bye.
