Illawarra Cutters five-eighth Shaun Nona will do what’s needed to ‘get the job done’ heading into the Preliminary Final fixture against the Newtown Jets at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday.
The Cutters enter the encounter on the back of a seven-day respite following their earlier 32-22 Qualifying Final victory over Wests Tigers at UOW Jubilee Oval, Kogarah.
The Cutters have managed to victories over their upcoming opponents in earlier competition fixtures this season but for Nona this amounts to nothing at this stage of the campaign.
The five-eighth, who joined the Cutters prior to this season, admits he is keen to play his role and is quietly confident that the team’s defence will play a pivotal role in deciding the outcome of the match.
“We have been working on our defence this week as we think that will help us win the game so if we can get that right we’re in with a chance,” said Nona.
“We only had one session of training last week during the seven-day break but the boys were all putting in as they are looking forward to this week.
“We are to a degree confident coming up against the Jets knowing we have won twice earlier this year but this stage of the competition is a completely different ball game.
“Both teams will be out there on the field wanting to win so we will need to make sure we are doing what is needed to come away with the goods.
“The good thing with working with a coach like Jason Demetriou is that he has been in these situations before and knows how to get teams prepared.
“Both Tyrone McCarthy and I have been with him during our time with the Northern Pride so we know what it takes to get the job done and how to help the boys in this situation.
“The entire playing group is on a high and I know the community is backing us so hopefully that continues so we can hopefully do something special.”
