PORT Pirates coach Stewart Robertson has been left with the bare minimum for Saturday’s clash with Southern Cross University.
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Injuries, holidays and retirements have stretched Port Macquarie’s playing stocks to the absolute limit.
Matt Mane has retired while Kye Marshall, Addam Lockley, Jordan Gilbert and Dave Kingston will also miss this weekend’s encounter.
Adding to that, Lachlan Bassett suffered a groin injury in last weekend’s win over Wauchope and is rated a highly unlikely chance to play. Jamie Williams is in the same boat.
To make matters worse, work commitments have taken Bleddyn Gant out to Orange. He won’t be back for the remainder of the season.
It means reserve grade hooker Pat Hourigan will only have had one training session with the first grade side before the match.
Despite the disrupted preparation, Robertson knows the next fortnight could shape Pirates season.
“Our three stars from the last game are out this weekend so not being able to name a side by Wednesday makes things extremely difficult,” he said.
“Hopefully it won’t play too much of a role come Saturday.”
With four rounds remaining before the finals they find themselves three points behind second position.
“We really need to win because we’re fourth at the moment,” Robertson said.
With the playing roster stripped back to a skeleton crew, the coach will look to his experienced forward pack to lead the way.
“I hope the experienced guys like Nick Webb, Chris Geary and Caleb Scholes can get us through,” he said.
“Nick is our new captain who will step up into the role well. He’s our lineout organiser and has a 100 per cent captaincy record.
“He’s a real thinker.”
In the last encounter between the two sides, Pirates registered a comfortable 34-6 win.
“We played well last time, but they gave us problems in the centres so that’s what we need to be wary of,” Robertson said.
The Marlins are also the only team to have beaten Hastings Valley Vikings this season, but they’ve been inconsistent at times.
The Vikings win, however, shows what they’re capable of.
“They got beaten by Kempsey last weekend who have gone on a bit of a mid-season resurgence after we beat them,” Robertson said.
“So it’s hard to know what to expect from them because they upset Vikings 24-21 after trailing 21-7 at half-time so that is an indicator of what they can do,” the coach said.
The match kicks off at 3pm at Stuart Park.
