Late season complaceny has plagued the Armidale Blues in recent weeks, but coach Anthony McMillan was confident his side would be back to their spectacular best in Sunday’s semi-final against the Barbarians.
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After sealing the minor premiership weeks ago, the Blues have dropped games to Baa Baas and St Albert’s in the past three weeks, mixed in with a huge victory against Guyra.
“There’s been a couple of dead rubbers there,” he said.
“Our boys have found it hard to get up for those games.
“They’ll have their heads switched on for this one.”
Both the Blues and Baa Baas will be full strength on Sunday, with the Blues welcoming back a number of key players in recent weeks.
“There’s no excuses for us,” McMillan said.
“We will have the biggest pack we’ve had all year.
“Hopefully they can dominate around the park.”
McMillan said there had been a number of areas of the game his side had been focusing on at training this week.
“The main thing for us is turning up with the right mindset,” he said.
“All we can do is put our heads down and hopefully get the result.
“We have been together for eight months now, we want to make sure we haven’t done that for nothing.”
It has been an up and down season for Baa Baas.
Only a month ago, their season looked shot, but they somehow fought back and are now only two wins from grand final glory.
“Two more wins and the final is ours,” Baa Baas coach Brett Monley said of the challenge facing his side.
Monley is aware the Blues haven’t been playing their best football and they will be looking to exploit that.
“The Blues are coming in off another loss, which is good,” he said.
“Hopefully our boys are up for the challenge.”
Baa Baas are also full strength and with star fullback Keith Ellis finally over an elbow complaint, the Blues will be on notice.
“There is a few niggles there, but I know the boys are ready to make that final push,” he said. “We know a game is never over until the final whistle.”
Limiting the Blues attacking opportunities will be at the forefront of Baa Baas’ game plan.
“Controlling the ball, making sure we go through our phases and sticking to our patterns are the biggest things,” Monley said.
“We need to play percentage football.
“They have a big forward pack, but hopefully ours is more mobile.”
The match kicks off at 3.15pm at Bellevue Oval.