Dubbo Macquarie coach Steve McLellan has seen his side perform below their best in recent weeks but is hopeful the men in blue will be back to their best in Sunday’s Group 11 derby.
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After taking on CYMS last week, the Raiders play host to local rivals Westside on Sunday at Caltex Park.
The Raiders have slipped to fourth after back-to-back losses to Narromine and the Fishies while the Rabbitohs head into the match in seventh place.
“I was saying to the boys at training that it’s hard to stay up for the full season,” McLellan said.
“There will be flat spots and I’d like to think we’ve had ours now.”
There is always added interest in a Macquarie-Westside derby give the amount of players who have played for both clubs in recent seasons.
Josh Merritt, Jade Hooper, Viliame Turuva and the returning Rowan Orcher will all play for Macquarie on Sunday after playing for the Rabbitohs in recent times and while there may be some feeling in the match, McLellan is almost certain there will be plenty of points.
“They troubled Forbes last week so that’s good form,” he said of Westside.
“I fully expect an expansive game. They have plenty of players with footwork and speed and we want to play something similar.”
The Raiders struggled late against CYMS last week after losing players to injury.
Jeremy Smith has recovered in time to take on the Rabbitohs but Kiyan Shaw and Timoci Yauvoli will both miss the match with ankle and hamstring complaints.
But Merritt’s return makes up for that loss, according to McLellan, and the influential playmaker will rejoin Etuate Gusuivalu in an exciting halves combination.
“It just gives us more options,” McLellan said of Merritt’s return.
“Eddie (Gusuivalu) has been outstanding but we’ve tended to go to him too often so we need options on both sides and with him back we’ll have that.”
The Rabbitohs come into the match in a positive mood after pushing Forbes all the way last week but have suffered a blow with neither of regular halves Steve Riley and Josh Trindall named.
Sunday begins with League Tag at 11am with first grade kick off at 2.30pm.
Macquarie: 1 Damien Wells, 2 Ash Widders, 3 Mason Williams, 4 Rowan Orcher, 5 Viliame Turuva, 6 Josh Merritt, 7 Etuate Gusuivalu, 8 Anthony Egan, 9 Jeremy Smith, 10 Jade Hooper, 11 Wade Peachey, 12 Steven Leask, 13 Phil Combridge, 14 Mathew Walker, 15 Michael Peachey, 16 Norman Button
Westside: 1 Sam Coe, 2 Blaize Fuller, 3 CJ Ralph, 4 Nathan Ryan, 5 EJ Fernando, 6 Rob Fuller, 7 Paul Jones Jnr, 8 Kieran Hill, 9 Kenneth Knight, 10 Shaun Todhunter, 11 Kurt Fuller, 12 Tom Clow, 13 Daryl Kemp, 14 Shaun Gordon, 15 Anthony Toomey, 16 Corey Ashby