The Tenterfield Tigers’ 44-14 loss against Inglewood in the A Grade on Saturday at Inglewood was disappointing but not totally unexpected, coach Chris Battersby said.
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“We sort of thought it might happen. We could see it coming from the way we played the last couple of weeks,” he said.
“We scored first and were on our way, but then a dropped ball and a penalty and Inglewood ran away with the game.”
Battersby said the team will have to work on tightening up defence in the middle, and not being at full strength didn’t help.
“We had four or five players out, but we always knew it was going to be tough. Inglewood was just too good on the day, and we struggled to get a rhythm.”
The two teams, which currently top the table, will meet again in Tenterfield in round three on June 25, and Battersby said that could be a very different match with the Tigers having the home-ground advantage and facing a different team to the one they faced on Saturday. Despite the loss Battersby said Coedie Tandy at halfback was great, organising play and with plenty of talk. Geoff Swan led from the front and Josh Lucas had his best game yet.
“And Grant Townes really stood up,” Battersby said. The Tigers are up against Stanthorpe/Texas at Rugby League Park this Saturday, in both Leaguetag (starting at 1.30pm) and the A Grade (2.30pm kick-off). While Battersby said this should also be a hard game, for the A Grade at least, it’s important for the Tigers to work on the issues they want to get right.
“We need to strengthen up a bit and worry about what we’re doing, not worry about them,” Battersby said.
