The Walcha Rams face another must-win situation to keep their season alive as the Central North finals series looms.
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The Rams will begin their finals campaign on home turf this Saturday when they face the Narrabri Blue Boars in the minor semi-final.
It was do-or-die for the Rams for much of the second-half of the season with a place in the finals not guaranteed until their win over Gunnedah in round 16.
Co-coach Barry Hoy is hoping the pressure they were put under to land third place will work in their favour against the Blue Boars in another must-win situation.
“We have been pushing that barrow a fair bit of the second round, if we had lost a couple more games then we wouldn't have even made the semis,” he said.
“We have been running on a knife’s edge for most of the way through the second round, bar about the last two weeks when we had a spot secured.
“We have playing tightrope football for all the second round really.”
The Rams have beaten Narrabri twice this season with a drubbing in round one and a close finish in round 10.
“The last one there was only a point in it with a minute to go and I think we scored a try right on full-time to blow it out to a five or six point win,” Hoy said.
“They [Narrabri] are pretty solid across the park.
“They have been a pretty good side all the way through and we are the only side they haven't beaten in the second round.
“They have beaten Moree and Pirates so it is going to be a pretty solid game.”
The Rams have been preparing well and Hoy highlighted defence as the are where the team will have to be on their game.
“It is another level, you have got to lift when you come into semi-finals,” he said.
“Defence will win it – you have got to defend well in semi-finals.
“You haven't got to win by a bonus point, you just have to win by one so you have got to defend really well.”
Round 18 saw the Walcha side take the bye points and Hoy admitted it was helpful in allowing a handful of players rest up and ward off minor injuries.
“It is as strong as we come,” he said.
“The bye last week has actually been a blessing because we had a few blokes with a couple of little niggly injuries and just having a week off freshened them up a bit.”
Downpours are predicted over the course of the weekend and, with any luck, the Blue Boars will be greeted with true Walcha weather conditions.
“Won't that be alright? That would be very nice, to put a bit of a dampener on it for them,” Hoy said.
The Rams will play at 3pm with lower grades beginning at 11.25am.
WALCHA: 1 Ross Fletcher, 2 Dave Healey, 3 Mike Whitton, 4 Sione Kamoto, 5 Sandy Cameron, 6 Henry King, 7 Thor Crombie, 8 Will Fletcher ©, 9 Angus Mactavish, 10 Simon Newton, 11 Dom Bower, 12 Pat Keen, 13 Ed Cordingley, 14 Richard Young, 15 Harry Locke.