Yarrabah batten down

Prior aware of strike power from Innisfail Brothers

A NO stress approach has served Yarrabah well this season but even coach Eddie Prior can’t ignore the threats Innisfail Brothers possess across the park heading into their crunch CDRL encounter.

The two teams meet in a top-of-the-table clash tonight at Callendar Park in a true test of both of their premiership credentials.

Prior said their previous match against Edmonton, where they escaped with vic- tory in the dying seconds, was a much-needed wake-up call against the most consistent team in the competition, which he dubbed the biggest game of the season.

“We thought Mareeba was a big one but Innisfail has been cruising along under the radar, so we’ll be watching our back,” he said.

“They’re very consistent all over the paddock.

“They’ve got dominating forwards and a slick backline, but we’ve got a pretty slick backline too.

“But we’re not going to stress out about them.”

Prior said his side had spoken about their poor Round 8 performance, when his side “played down to Edmonton’s level”, but said they would be well prepared for tonight’s massive game.

Leprechauns coach Leon Hallie said he expected his experienced players to shine as clubs come out the other side of a disjointed few weeks, not too worried about their opponents but at the same time wary of the threat of the visitors.

Slow starts have been the only real concern for Innisfail this season, something they can’t afford to do against the competition leaders.

“We’re definitely aware of that and we know if we get out to a lead how quickly they can claw back into it,” Hallie said.

He said the game would be a marker where the Leprechauns sat in the pecking order in the CDRL but a loss would not be the end of the world.

“I wouldn’t say we’re worried,” he said.

“We know what we’ve got to do to contain them and it’s just a matter of sticking to the processes we put in place.”