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WARATAHS coach Hugh Palmer insists a bye came at the perfect moment for the his team in preparation to begin rebuilding its Southern Inland Rugby Union season.
On a roller coaster of form, Tahs claimed a sensational come-from-behind victory over Wagga City in round two, before backing it up with a brutal loss to Temora the following week.
Battered and emotionally spent, Palmer yesterday admitted Saturday’s bye was necessary to regroup before taking on Griffith at Coro Club Oval this weekend.
“I think we put a lot into that City game and found it really hard backing up against Temora the following week,” he said.
“We definitely didn’t underestimate Temora. I knew they were going to be really tough but they really ground it out against us.
“The last 15 minutes or so it really showed against Temora, so thankfully the boys are nice and refreshed now after the bye and we’re all good to go.
“We would really like to give it a good crack against Griffith and then we’ve got Leeton and then Aggies, so we’d certainly like to build off this weekend.”
The crippling loss to 32-13 loss to Temora came at a bigger price for Tahs, with talented half Jayden Stanton making his return only to be taken off with a season-ending knee injury.
Palmer admits Tahs were banking on Stanton’s return but will fill the position in the coming weeks.
“Jayden Stanton came on for half a game against Temora and now he’s out for the season which is disappointing. He has to have surgery on his knee,” he said.
“Matt Meggison is also out, he’s got a lower back injury and he’s waiting on some results from the specialist.
“We’re getting there. We didn’t have a massive pre-season so these first couple of rounds there’s a few positions that are up for grabs.
“Josh Booth is a guy who’ll play openside flanker for us this weekend, and he’s come up from second grade just purely based on form, he’s been playing some good footy.”