The Illawarra Cutters will travel to face the Wyong Roos at Morry Breen Oval, Wyong on Sunday.
After wins for both teams last weekend, Illawarra beating Manly-Warringah and Wyong defeating Mt Pritchard, both sides will be hoping to continue their respective momentum.
The halves pairing of Sam Williams and Kyle Stanley will have another week together as Head Coach Ian Milllward searches for the perfect team early in the season.
Their opponents, Wyong, have also named a strong side with recognisable names such as Shaune Corrigan and former Premiership winner Mark O’Meley lining up for the home side.
This is the first meeting between the two teams and with Illawarra sitting in fifth position; they will be hoping to continue to push for a top four position.
However, Wyong are not far behind in ninth place.
Millward believes defence was the main building block in his team’s impressive 26-4 win over the Sea Eagles last round.
However, he notes the team will need to fix an opening period during that game marred by a poor completion rate as well as factoring in the withdrawal of several players presently on representative duty.
“I thought it was an outstanding defensive effort and it was the corner stone of our win,” said Millward.
“I was really impressed with all 17 players and the way they worked as a unit I thought was a terrific effort.
“We have a few boys playing in the Fiji and Samoa test match so we may have a weakened team against Wyong."
