Magpies coach Rory Brien has labelled this Sunday’s round eight Group 10 match as “massive” for Cowra, and their pursuit of returning to finals football for the first time since 2014.
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Cowra was travelling nicely with three wins and three losses before last week’s embarrassing 58-0 thumping by Bathurst Panthers, a result the Magpies can’t afford again this weekend.
Cowra hosts Orange Hawks at Sid Kallas Oval this week marking the club’s fifth home fixture in a row, meaning the Magpies will play two home games in the second round.
Victory on Sunday is Cowra’s only option, with six away games looming in the coming months.
“We had a pretty big session on Tuesday night. The scoreline [last week] looked terrible but I think they caught us at a bad time,” Rory Brien said.
“We have no excuses with the result and I’m not taking anything away from how Panthers played but we had a couple blokes injured and a few sick.
“We should have been better and I’m sure we will this week.”
Hawks were similarly thrashed in round four by Panthers, who crossed for 13 tries in a 72-12 victory.
Hawks, coming off the bye last week, has the same win-loss record as Cowra and shape as a side that could battle it out with the Magpies for a spot in the top five come early August.
“This is a massive game for us. We’re coming into a bye as well so it’s a four point game for us,” Brien said.
“We need to win this because we hit the road after this and only have two home games out of eight remaining.
“We need to end our first stint with a win.”
Brien is expected to make a couple of position changes following last week’s loss.
Rick Nobes began at five-eighth in the absence of Warren Williams but is expected to return to his original role as an interchange player, and be introduced at hooker about 20 minutes into the first half.
Cameron Picker will shuffle to five-eight with Williams remaining sidelined.
Brien didn’t confirm who will fill the position of fullback.
He was expected to make a call following training on Thursday night.
The match begins about 2.30pm.