SUNDAY's NSWRL country championships opener against Riverina might not have gone to plan but the Illawarra South Coast Dragons get the chance to redeem themselves this weekend.
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Wade Forrester's side head north to Taree, where they'll face the North Coast Bulldogs, who lost 28-18 to the Central Coast Roosters last round, at Jack Neale Oval.
"Last week, we had a wonderful opportunity to put Group Seven on the map but we failed big time with our execution," Forrester said.
"Our ball-handling, discipline and physicality at the line of scrimmage all let us down against Riverina, which is disappointing because I know we're better than that.
"You can't complete at 44 per cent and expect to win a game of representative footy.
"Full credit to Riverina, they deserved to win but that match could have gone either way in that second half after we scored back-to-back tries - we had our chances but just couldn't go on with it.
"Hopefully the run last week will put us in good stead to make up for the last game, which is an opportunity everyone is excited to rectify."
The only change to Forrester's all-Group Seven Dragons side is Albion Park-Oak Flats' Tom Warner comes in for Kiama's Tyler Clark - who injured his ankle in Sunday's defeat at Ron Costello Oval.
Warner is expected to start the match in the front-row, with Gerringong's Judd Collyer dropping back to the bench.
"Tom will give us a little bit more size to start the match, against a big, physical Bulldogs outfit," Forrester said.
"Then depending on how the game flows, we will inject our bench players accordingly."
Despite losing their opener, results from other matches men the Dragons are mathematically still a chance of securing a top-four spot and progressing to the finals.
The Dragons need to win by at least 43 points to leap-frog the Western Rams into fourth spot.
But this is also the case for the Bulldogs, who only need to win by 37 points on Saturday.
"We know it's a tall order but we are still a chance - it's all up to how much we want it," Forrester said.
"North Coast stuck with the Roosters for close to 70 minutes last week, so they're no easy beats and we are going to have to be at our absolute best just to win the game.
"They're going to be thinking along the same lines as us that they can sneak into the top four, so we know they'll be up for the challenge.
"First and foremost, we are going to try and win the game of footy and whatever happens from there happens - the moment you start looking at the scoreboard, you forget about the job at hand.
"Our game plan won't change too much, it's just about putting in a more well-rounded performance.
"If we are able to squeak into the finals, we will be a dangerous side that no one wants to play.
"I'm certain you'll see a much improved Dragons side this Saturday, determined to show why the South Coast is one of the strongest rugby league regions in the state."
The open men's clash is one of four clashes between the Dragons and Bulldogs on Saturday - which were all washed out a fortnight ago.
The slate will start with the Andrew Johns Cup at 10am, before the Laurie Daley Cup at 11:20am, the men at 1pm and women at 2.40pm.
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Courtney Ward
Sports Journalist for South Coast Register and Milton-Ulladulla Times, who loves all things sport and travel. All views are my own.
Sports Journalist for South Coast Register and Milton-Ulladulla Times, who loves all things sport and travel. All views are my own.
