After their battle with Dunedoo on May 25, the Gulgong Terriers were entertaining the idea of pulling off two victories in their upcoming rounds to get a chance to contest for the top two spots in the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition.
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And, after their round eight win against Coonamble, their chances have been heightened.
Terriers coach, Mark Gorrie says after their 70-10 victory, they're "halfway there".
"If we can notch a win against Coonamble and Coonabarabran, that gets us very close to being within the top two," Gorrie told the Mudgee Guardian last week.
"We've got two weeks to prepare for Coonabarabran who are leading the comp at the moment so it's going to be an important two weeks for us.
"It's a good result for us to be up in the top three challenging for the top two positions."
With the blue and white outfit finally playing together, Gorrie says his side has a lot more potential.
"We're playing much better than the start of the season, we were very jagged early on so we're just starting to gel very well as a team," he said.
"We've still got a bit of way to go before we get to where we want to be but we are playing so much better as a team.
"We put in a very hard off season, Kelly O'Brien put in a lot of time and effort to get us as fit as we are."
After observing the top position holders in action and understanding their usual game plan, Gorrie has a philosophy in place that relies on the Terriers defence structure.
We'll look towards the philosophy that if a team doesn't score a point against us, we won't lose the game.
- Gulgong Terriers coach, Mark Gorrie
"I think they will underestimate us so that's something that'll play in our favour.
"They really like to start well, they throw the ball around a lot and score points, so if we can defend and put some pressure on them I think it'll go a long way to helping us win the game."
Gorrie nominated Tom Reddish as the player to watch for their upcoming round at home after his consistent efforts in the second row throughout the season.
"I think the standout player so far has been Tommy Reddish playing the second row," he said.
He's work rate has been just fantastic. He's topping the hit ups and tackles, he's playing very well.
The Gulgong Terriers will take on Coonabarabran on June 15 with a 2.30pm kick-off at Gulgong.
"It'll be a top game of football so it'll be a good game to get down there and cheer on the Terriers," Gorrie said.
Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
