THEY’VE had a taste of victory and now the Bathurst Panthers are looking for more in thursday night’s local derby against Bathurst St Pat’s in Group 10 Premier League.
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Following a 32-24 win over Cowra last week, the boys in black return to Carrington Park with some renewed focus and only minor changes to their winning line-up.
Panthers coach John Fearnley is hoping his side can keep their play calm in the face of one of their most anticipated games of the season so far.
“Everyone wants to win the local derby, but we don’t want that to become the focus,” he said.
“We need to make sure that we’re playing for the full 80 minutes, get field position through the paddock and not try to score of every single play.”
Panthers go into the match with the advantage of having an extra 80 minutes of play to their name over Pat’s, who had a round one bye.
Their last outing was an improvement on their heartbreaking one-point defeat by Oberon in the opening round.
They will go into Thursday night’s match wary of their cross-town rivals, who made Blayney look average in their season opener last Sunday.
“They’ve got a new coach, change in personnel, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of good young players. Benjamin John has been playing really well for them and so has young [Campbell] Scott at fullback,” he said.
“They play very similar to Cowra so our game plan will be similar to one we used against them. I think they scored 40 points in the second half against Blayney ... They really like to throw the ball around.”
An injury to Panthers fullback Cody Robbins will see him out for a month and forces changes to the side. Winger Mitch Davis makes the switch to fullback and Chris Shepherd will provide cover out wide.
“Chris Shepherd brings size to the wing. He played really well in reserve grade last week, he scored three tries. Mitch Davis enjoys playing at fullback because it gives him some space to move,” Fearnley said.
“I’m looking for some maturity around the halves. I’m expecting big things from Joey Bugg this year, and looking for Blake Dean to step up.
“When they play well, everyone else seems to lift their game.
“We can’t be playing one great game only to follow it up with a poor one.”
BATHURST PANTHERS: 1 Mitch Davis, 2 Chris Shepherd, 3 Matt Rose, 4 William Kennedy, 5 Josh Small, 6 Blake Dean, 7 Joey Bugg, 8 Brent Seager, 9 Luke Carpenter, 10 Michael Ingerwesen, 11 Trent Rose, 12 Blake Seager, 13 Blake Lawson, 14 Jake Betts, 15 Stan Latu, 16 Matt Woolmington