It’s sixth vs seventh with the Newtown Jets and Canterbury Bulldogs holding identical records with seven wins, seven losses and three byes.
They meet for a pivotal top-eight clash, and by the end of the round, one team will move closer to the top four, whilst the other will be left clinging to the top eight.
Both teams have had two byes in their past three weeks for a disruptive period.
“It’s probably not the best thing when you’re winning a few games, we’d rather keep playing,” said Patmore.
“But on the other side it’s been good for the boys who are having a mid-season break and they’re all fresh again.”
Patmore understands the challenge of facing the Jets, who they defeated in round 10 by just two points.
“[The Jets] were very good against Manly two weeks ago.
“They’ve got really good momentum and enthusiasm, we’ve got to make sure we match them in those areas.”
The VB NSW Cup ladder has fluctuated wildly, so Patmore believes that every win is extremely important at the back end of the year.
“If you look at the whole comp it’s very close. You can change spots really quickly so you’ve just got to get as many points as you can to make sure you’re in that top eight, [and] hopefully that top four.”
It’s an intriguing match between two clubs with similar statistics.
While the Jets having possess attacking weapons such as Nathan Gardner and Todd Murphy, the Bulldogs have scored 61 more points this season – and have the most prolific try scorer in the competition in Tyrone Phillips.
This match could be a high-scoring thriller, but the Jets will aim to grind out the victory with a better defensive record.
TEAM LISTS:
JETS: 1 NATHAN GARDNER 2 DALLAS WELLS 3 BLAKE AYSHFORD 4 MITCH BROWN 5 DANIEL ABOU-SLEIMAN 6 GERARD MCCALLUM 7 TODD MURPHY 8 RAY MOUJALLI 9 PAT POLITONI 10 TIM ROBINSON (c) 11 TINIRAU ARONA 12 SAMI SAUILUMA 13 JUNIOR ROQICA 14 ANDREW PEARN 15 KURT KARA 16 NESIASI MATAITONGA 17 SAULALA HOUMA COACH GREG MATTERSON
BULLDOGS: 1 JALINE GRAHAM 2 TYRONE PHILLIPS 3 CHASE STANLEY 4 JACOB LOKO 5 COREY THOMPSON 6 MATT FRAWLEY 7 DANE CHISHOLM 8 ANTONIO KAUFUSI 9 DAMIEN COOK 10 DANNY FUALALO 11 DAVID MINUTE 12 ADAM ELLIOTT 13 JASON SCHIRNACK 14 LEVI DODD 15 MAKAHESI MAKATOA 16 HERMAN ESE’ESE 17 BRAD CLARK 19 TAUTALATASI TASI COACH ANDREW PATMORE
Newtown v Canterbury
Henson Park, Saturday 11 July, 3:00pm
Thsi article first appeared on NSWRL.com.au
