Press conference: Mitch Barnett on Round 7
A country boy himself from Wingham, Mitch Barnett is looking forward to going regional this weekend when team matches up against the Wests Tigers in Tamworth.
“Tamworth is close to Wingham, it’s only a couple of hours away and I know a lot of Wingham people that live there,” Barnett smiled.
“I can’t wait to go over there and see a few familiar faces and it’s great for the game to give back to country areas and the rural areas.
“Tamworth is a big football town and I’m sure it will be a good turnout.”
After sitting out last week’s clash against the Melbourne Storm with a one-match suspension, Barnett admits he’s keen to get back out on the field.
“It was extremely difficult to watch the boys play in Melbourne,” said Barnett.
“It’s never a good feeling but we’ve had a good week training and we can hopefully turn it around this weekend.”
The forward maintains their start and intensity needs to match the in-form Tigers if they’re any chance of getting their fourth win for the season.
“Against Melbourne, we were off the pace which is really disappointing, especially after the Broncos game, so we need to get a really good start and play for the full 80 minutes,” he added.
“The Tigers have been playing with a real high intensity and everyone works for everyone, so we’ve just got to match them in those one per cent areas and then it’s just execution.
“I have seen a few stats for other teams that have lost to them, which haven’t completed well at all and the Tigers have so that’s going to be the key.
“We need to beat them in the ruck, they build a lot of momentum early on and they roll down the field and get players like Benji (Marshall) and (Luke) Brooks to create plenty of space.
“Players like that seem to be allowed to do what they want, so we’ve just got to win the ruck to get line speed and go off there.”
