Tigers to take loss as lesson

CENTRAL Tigers coach Matt Bowen is confident his charges have heeded the lessons from last week’s heavy loss to Herbert River before today’s crucial Townsville District Rugby League clash with Brothers at Jack Manski Oval.

The match will have big ramifications in the race for a top two spot, with the Tigers a chance to go level with Brothers into second place.

Bowen said his team was taught a lesson in not overplaying things by the tabletopping Crushers, and hoped to heed it today.

“H e r b e r t River played well last week and gave us a touch- up, but we’ll learn from that and it’s another big game this week in Brothers,” Bowen ( pictured) said.

“We just have to be more patient. We dropped too much ball and they ( Crushers) frustrated us.

“They have nothing flash, they’re just a quality team that have been playing together for a while and they just grind out a win.

“They’re always competitive week in, week out. We also have to be patient and grind it out.”

Bowen said a top two spot and a subsequent double chance in the finals was a major goal for his new- look team.

“We’ve got a fairly new squad and if we finish in the top four we’ll take it,” Bowen said.

“But our end goal is we want to finish in the top two and that’s a long way away. Brothers will be a good chance to see where we’re at.

“We’ve played well in most games but we got taught a lesson last week, and hopefully we don’t let it happen again.”

TDRU round 10: Brothers v Centrals at Jack Manski Oval ( 4pm); Burdekin v Herbert River at Rugby Park, Ayr ( 6.15pm); Charters Towers v Norths at Bill Lewis Oval, Charters Towers ( 7pm).