Backrower Svendsen taking the lead
IN the wake of an injury crisis, Easts Tigers backrower Jack Svendsen is making a point of filling the void.
The former Northern Pride player’s presence is one of the few certainties in a side virtually missing a starting team.
Svendsen said with the club now relying on young players and never knowing whether the likes of Storm-contracted Patrick Kaufusi would be returning, it was up to him to take responsibility.
“We’re just down on a few injuries at the moment so I’m sort of taking it upon myself to lead the charge from the middle,” he said.
But it takes more than a lone wolf to tackle one of the bestperformed packs of 2018 and the 24-year-old was thrilled with the result of the hunt.
“It’s always tough coming up here to play the Pride, the conditions here and probably harder than any anywhere else in the competition and they’ve got a good team,” Svendsen said.
“To be fair, we matched them. We really wanted to do a job on them and we’ve got a fit, mobile pack and I think we hunted in numbers really well and it’s good to get on top of them. I don’t think too many teams have been able to do that this year so it was nice to go out and execute that plan.
“We back our mobility. We wanted to play a flat and fast game and we knew they were a big team so if we could hang in there and stay in the grind we’d eventually get on the front foot with some quick play the balls and let our backs do their thing.
“We’ve got a couple of good halves there in Brodie Croft and Brayden Torpy and they know what they’re doing.”