Southern Inland Rugby Union
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
THE bye has come at the perfect time for CSU, giving the university club a chance to lick its wounds.
After losing four of the last five games, the Reddies have tumbled from being ladder leaders to fourth with Tumut breathing down their necks.
The Bulls are five points adrift, but things can change quickly with the two clubs to play each other in the last round of the competition.
With no game this weekend due to a general bye CSU coach Mick Wakeling is hoping four regular first graders will return to the team who suffered a 12-point loss to Waratahs on Saturday.
Napolioni Naiyavalesi and Greg Eldridge are expecting to return from injury to face Griffith, while Rob McMahon is expected to be back available.
In a big boost for the Reddies' final chances Justin Wakeling is a chance to return after having his collarbone injury misdiagnosed.
The halfback was told be had broken his collarbone against Albury in the first week after the split, but after healing quicker than expected went for a second opinion.
"We went back to have a look at the report and the report said the alignment was normal and there was no fracture so hopefully we should be right by the time we play Griffith," Mick Wakeling said.
"It should make a fairly big difference to us."
Brett Wendt is another on the cusp of a return for the Reddies after coming off the bench in the last two games, but Wakeling is being cautious with the flyer.
"He's still not running totally freely so I suspect we might do the same thing, play him in the lower grades and see how it goes," he said.
"Given it's two weeks away it might be right too."
Wakeling is looking to win one more game to assure a spot in the top four, and despite his team struggling for wins believes they are improving each week.
"I thought our attack was a fair bit better on Saturday even though we lost," Wakeling said.
"We've got a few things we are going to work on during the week with our defence as they caught us out wide a couple of times."
Scrums are another aspect that cost the Reddies against Waratahs, but with Eldridge, Naiyavalesi and McMahon set to come back, it should alleviate some of the Reddies woes.
Griffith's form is almost the complete opposite, winning its last five games including wins over Griffith, Tumut and Ag College after the split.