Maintaining consistency and playing 80 minutes of footy is what Kaiviti Silktails head coach Wes Naiqama is looking to instill in his players when they face Glebe Dirty Reds in the round three fixture in the Ron Massey Cup at the Wentworth Park in Sydney, Australia this Sunday.
“It is a big challenge ahead of playing again in a couple of days time,” Naiqama said.
“We had a really good training week and the big win against the Bulldogs was good over the weekend, but we have put that behind us now.”
The former Fiji Bati captain heaped praises on his young players for stepping up against the Bulldogs, especially his two debutants Ratu Tini Tabusakia and Timoci Kotoisuva.
“I was really happy with them. Ratu Tini played 60 minutes, in the first half, he played hooker, a position he did not play in years and for him to do that at this level and have an impact, it was really pleasing.”
Naiqama said they are going to approach the Reds game like they did for every other game.
“Regardless of who the opposition is, we got to focus on ourselves and we got to start well. To get the win, we need to compete for the full 80 minutes.
“Perhaps the biggest difference between the game against the Penrith Brothers and Bulldogs was that, with Brothers, we only played one half of football and were victims of it.”
He highlighted on the importance of playing the full 80 minutes.
“Last week, we sort or showed in both the halves, and we saw that in the results. When asked how he would maintain the team’s consistency with 14 more confirmed games in the Ron Massey Cup draws, Naiqama said they would take each game at a time.
“It is about taking it week by week. We are not going to look too far ahead. With lots of travelling, every second week, how we are going to handle that will play a big part in where we will finish on the table.
“We have got a big squad and it showed last week that if injuries creeped in, there are players who can step up. Remaining consistent is just remaining level-headed and we go back to the drawing board and take both the good and bad out of the game,” he said.
Naiqama indicated that after their captain’s run tomorrow (today), he would name his match-day 17.
The team departed yesterday and would play third-placed Reds in the RMC points table at 1.45pm this Sunday.
