Valleys hunt victory against familiar foe
RUGBY LEAGUE: Valleys got a first-hand look at the prowess of Ipswich last weekend.
Now they’ll prepare for a more familiar foe in the second round of the Volunteers Cup at North Ipswich Reserve today.
The Roosters are on high alert as they come up against a young Southern Suburbs side brimming with confidence after their defeat of West End.
“I watched a bit of their game and they played well,” Valleys coach Matt Schulze said.
“Liam (Capewell) has done a good job with them. They’re a bunch of young blokes playing a good brand of footy.
“It’s a contrasting style to Goodna, who are a big and physical side that try to get over the top of you. From what I’ve seen Souths are one of the top teams in the comp.”
The Roosters led at halftime in their round one contest against Goodna, before the home side pulled away in the second half to win by 20.
Schulze said there were promising signs on display in their first hitout since the TRL pre-season.
“It was good to give the boys an opportunity to play footy again,” he said.
“We were up at halftime and there was a period after the break where they got a good roll on and scored some back-to-back tries.
“We weren’t as strong as we hopefully are this week. I was really happy with the effort, we’ve just got to make sure that we get better. It’s no good having that effort and not backing it up.”
Brock Diment is expected to make his Valleys return at the weekend, with fullback Dylan Chown a chance to once again captain the side.
“Dylan was captain on the weekend and I was really impressed with how he took that leadership on,” Schulze said.
“He wasn’t afraid to chat to the referee and spoke well to the boys. It helped him and how he played.”
This weekend’s fixtures across the Volunteers Cup didn’t come without a scare, with a member of the Norths club returning a negative COVID test after being deemed a close contact of a confirmed case.
Valleys and Southern Suburbs will clash at 3.30pm today at North Ipswich Reserve, with Gatton taking on West End at 1.30pm.