The Windsor Wolves will be aiming for three wins in a row as they head across the Tasman to take on the Auckland Vulcans on Easter Monday.
The Wolves enjoyed a hard earned win last Sunday in Wyong, defeating the bottom-placed Roos 38 – 22.
With a number of Windsor players aiming to make their way into Ivan Cleary’s first grade side, you can only expect their form will continue to get better and better as the competitions rolls on.
Windsor Wolves team manager, Charlie Vella, said he was very impressed with his side’s win over Wyong but noted there was still plenty of room for improvement.
“It certainly was a close contest up until half-time, then we switched on and finished off the game pretty well,” he said.
Vella said there were plenty of stand-outs during the game but none more than Blake Austin, who switched from playing centre the previous week to play in his more permanent role of five-eighth.
“Blake was obviously a little bit down and out during the week hoping he was going to get picked for first-grade,” he said.
“But his attitude was really good and he kicked 5 from 7 and was very dangerous in attack when he decided to run the ball himself.”
Other players that impressed Vella over the weekend included Anthony Cherrington, Cameron Ciraldo, Eto Nabuli, Travis Robinson and the Eisenhuth brothers, Tom and Alan.
Vella believed Fijian winger Nabuli was only a handful of games away from a remarkable first grade appearance after scoring five tries in his first two games.
“Attacking wise he’s probably ready for first-grade now, he just has to fine tune his positional play,” he said.
“I think give him another six or seven games and he’ll probably be ready for it. He’s definitely going to be a find for the future.”
This week the Wolves will have a slightly changed line-up against the ninth-placed Vulcans with Geoff Daniella returning to the side and Cameron Ciraldo promoted to the NRL.
“We’ll also be missing Mose Masoe whose wife’s due to have a baby on game day, as well as Eto Nabuli because his visa to New Zealand hadn’t been organised,” Vella said.
Meanwhile, Penrith’s Holden Cup Under 20’s side remain the only undefeated team in the National Youth Competition after round three.
After getting off to a slow start against the Rabbitohs last Sunday, the young cubs performed brilliantly, winning the game without injured stars George Jennings, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Sam Scarlett.
This Sunday afternoon, the Panthers are back at home taking on the lowly Gold Coast Titans who are on a two game losing streak.
Kick-off is at 12.45pm.
