Led by mercurial five-eighth Patolo Toeta – excellently nicknamed The Postman – Gordon hasn’t had an issue scoring points in the opening six rounds of the Intrust Super Shute Shield, so much so they’ve secured four-try bonus points in five of those games.

But they’re still rocking a three and three record, mainly because they’ve leaked plenty of points as well – 217 in fact, the fourth most of the 12 clubs.

Against an Eastern Suburbs side that boasts an electrifying backline, albeit one that hasn’t quite clicked, Gordon head coach Mark Philp says tightening up without the ball is crucial.

“We’re looking to continue our good attacking form, but we do need to tighten up at the defensive end,” Philp conceded.

“Easts have a good backline, especially their back three. They’re very good in open play, broken play and that’s something we’ve been working on defending. We need to be ready to work together, defensively we’ve certainly had some peaks and troughs.

“At times we’re outstanding but sometimes for one reason or another the communication has broken down a bit and that’s when we’ve conceded points.

“Almost all of our backline is new to the club. Bigger picture, it’s fantastic having these guys but for the immediate future, especially this weekend, we need to work on how they communicate in defence.”

While the Highlanders’ backs are still coming together, the side’s forward pack is quite the opposite.

“A key area for us is to insert some dominance in the forwards, around the set piece and around our carries,” Philp said.

“We’ve been very solid through our pack, especially our scrum. It’s been a 180 from last year, our scrum got belted a fair bit last year but this year we’re winning penalty tries, we’re strong so we’re really targeting that.”

Philp said his entire club is pumped up to play in Orange, as a former Australian Rugby Union development officer he’s right behind the move.

“Our forwards coach Mark Debrincat used to be based in Orange, we’ve got a few from the bush as well so we’re really looking forward to it,” Philp said.

“The guys who have only played in Sydney, I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised by the passion out in the bush, I think they’ll really enjoy playing out there. I think it’s a really great initiative.”

Saturday’s Shute Shield fixture kicks off at 3pm at Wade Park.