Tallon Smith

After a strong start to the Newcastle Rugby League season, the Western Suburbs Rosellas will begin a gruelling seven-week run home beginning with a massive clash against Cessnock on Saturday.

Since their bye in round five, the Rosellas have suffered from some patchy form, taking three wins against Centrals, Kurri Kurri and Souths, while falling to Macquarie, The Entrance and Wyong, to find themselves in third place with a 6-3 record after nine games.

Wests second rower Liam Wiscombe said that despite some of the close losses, the team is still playing great football, and is in a good position heading into the finals.

“We’ve had ups and downs, but the start to the season was really good,” he said.

“We had those three straight wins, and then those couple of close games that we probably should have won, that we just missed out on. 

“We had a good win against Souths, they were at the top of the table I think, [and it was] a pretty dominant win over them.

The key to their success this season according to Wiscombe will be in how the tight knit group can overcome some of the small mistakes in big games to challenge the top sides for the title.

“The vibes are high, we’ve got a really good crew, good coaches, and everyone’s enjoying going to training,” he said.

“It feels like a special year, just the best bunch of boys, and the footy has been good.

“It’s just, we need to learn from those mistakes, from those small losses.”

As for who are the teams to beat this season, Wiscombe said that Wyong has emerged as a real contender alongside the old firm of Maitland and Souths.

“Maitland are always there, they have struggled a little bit this year, just with missing some numbers and some injuries, but they’re still probably the team to beat,” he said.

“I’d say Wyong is [also] the team to beat, their squad’s pretty good. 

“They’ve got a massive pack, they’ve got heaps of experience in their spine and they’ve got  good attacking edges.  

“They beat us by two points the other week, I think [they] would be the toughest team to beat on their day.

“The top six really is really competitive, on anyone’s day they can give it to you.”

After leaving his home town club for the opportunity to play in the Newcastle competition, many back at the Albury Thunder hope for the return of the damaging second-rower one day.

However, according to Wiscombe, while he likes the idea, it is not on the immediate agenda for the Group 9 product.

“I’m not too sure, I’m enjoying it here in Newcastle,” he said.

“It would be good to go back one day, but I’m not too sure, not soon. 

“I like the beach too much.”

Wests’ clash with the Goannas kicks off at 3pm on Saturday at Baddeley Park, Cessnock.