Hoare calls for lift in defence
BLACKHAWKS captain Sam Hoare has placed the onus on himself and his fellow middle forwards to stem the flow of points that have plagued the club’s past two outings.
Scoring has not been an issue for the Townsville outfit, with their haul of 22 against Norths Devils their lowest in the 2021 Intrust Super Cup.
However in losses to both Norths and the Northern Pride they have conceded 30, with coach Aaron Payne pointing to a lack of faith in their defensive systems.
Hoare, a veteran of 21 games for the North Queensland Cowboys, said it was up to himself and his teammates in the centre of the park to ease the pressure being created on the edges.
He said they needed to become more intense in applying the heat on opposition halves, a task that will be crucial against a Sunshine Coast Falcons side featuring ISC stalwart Todd Murphy and Melbourne Storm young gun Cooper Johns.
“Our defensive system relies on blokes playing in the middle getting pressure on the opposition halves, and it all stems from our ruck defence,” Hoare said. “We’ve let opposition teams play a bit too quick and we have not able to get that inside pressure, which then puts our edge defenders under the pump.
“We’ve let them play deep into our line … I think it’s going to be another big focus for us this week leading into the Sunny Coast game; they play a similar style to Melbourne and play with a lot of width off the nine.
“I think any defensive system will only work if you’re winning the ruck and controlling the ruck speed, so it all comes back to us to dictate that.”
Sweeping changes have come through the Blackhawks side for Sunday’s Anzac Day clash at Jack Manski Oval, with several players coming in and out of their casualty ward.
Halfback Jaelen Feeney and prop Joe Boyce will return, however they will be missing star winger Kalifa Faifai Loa, and forwards Kieran Quabba and Tom Hancock.
They will join the likes of Cameron King, Moses Meninga and Patrick Kaufusi on the sidelines.
Faifai Loa’s case is particularly perplexing, after the 75NRL game speedster collapsed on the weekend without going into contact.
However Hoare said he and his teammates would not be daunted by the rate of injuries in their ranks.
“We’ve always kind of had that next man up mentality, it’s an expectation if you’re in the squad you’re good enough to be at this level and you’re expected to do a job,” he said.
“I don’t think it affects the group too much, obviously we have a lot of talent on the sidelines but I think there’s enough talent within the 17 that take the field to be winning games.
“We won’t use that as an excuse or feel sorry for ourselves, we need to get on with the job and do what we’re there to do.”