Orange Emus' road trip to Cowra Rugby Ground for Saturday's third round of the 2019 Blowes Clothing Cup will be won and lost up front, with the two undefeated sides' packs' battle for ascendancy set to be a typically-enthralling one.
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Emus' backline has long been a much-touted one while the Eagles have also added some exciting outside men in 2019 but as greens prop Matt Findlay said leading into the second-versus-third encounter, "either sides' backs can only work with what the packs give them".
And based on the pack the Eagles have trotted out in rounds one and two Emus may actually have their work cut out for them winning that up-front battle too, more so than usual anyway, because for the first time in a long time the greens probably won't enjoy a marked size advantage.
"It's never easy getting over the top of Cowra's pack though. They're big, they're physical and they know their game inside out," Findlay said.
"We hear they've got some new faces through their backline and they're reasonably exciting so that'll be quite intriguing to see, but I don't think it takes a genius to figure out it's a game that'll probably be decided in the forwards.
"Cowra play pretty tight, always have, and they're pretty good at basically forcing you into that confrontation because that's where they thrive. If we don't embrace that challenge we could be in for a long day."
The greens had one of those long days the last time they went to Cowra, in June last year, when a Jack Thurtell penalty goal in injury time secured the Eagles a breakthrough, 18-17 victory.
The famously-raucous Cowra crowd lifted their 'red men' that day and that's something else Findlay identified as a potential factor this weekend, albeit one that's "good fun".
"Their crowd's always excellent, they hang over the balcony there and give you a fair bit of stick but they appreciate good rugby, it's good fun playing in that atmosphere. Cowra do grow an extra leg in front of them though, the crowd probably acts as a 16th man for them in a way," Findlay said.
Emus have made a couple of changes to the side that bested Dubbo Kangaroos by nine points a fortnight ago, with Simon Badgery coming back into the second row the unavailable Nick Hughes-Clapp, while Tom Joseph has been named to play his first game since linking with the club, in the centres.
Joseph, who spent plenty of time with Eastern Suburbs, is a former premiership-winner with Bathurst Bulldogs and will add even more starch and experience to Emus' centre channel.
"He's been good in the pre-season, he's fit in really well, there's no questioning his quality and he's got plenty of experience behind him so we're looking forward to seeing what he can do," Findlay said.
Emus take on the Eagles from 3.15pm at Cowra Rugby Ground on Saturday afternoon, with sponsor's day festivities also set to take place on the day.
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Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
