MEREWETHER may have inflicted a second spirit-sapping defeat of Wanderers but Greens coach Jamie Lind expects the Two Blues to "be there at the pointy end" of the Hunter Rugby Union season despite a mounting injury toll and having to play catch up.
A runaway Sam Rouse try, four penalties from the boot of Sam Bright and resolute defence propelled the Greens to a 19-7 win over Wanderers on a soggy Townson Oval on Saturday.
The loss was the Two Blues' second straight after going down 27-22 to Maitland at home and dropped them down the ladder to fifth.
Compounding the defeat were serious injuries to fly-half Luke Simmons (torn pec) and breakaway Charlie Bennett (torn hamstring). Blockbusting centre Bill Coffey also limped off in the first half with a hamstring issue. They join captain Ben Ham (hamstring) in the casualty ward.
"That was one of the tougher efforts in defence all year," Lind said. "Both clubs were coming off last round losses and upped the ante. The ground was hard to run on, but I think it was a high quality game. It just wasn't a high scoring game.
"Wanderers are a bit down on luck. They are a bit down on people. That is a tough footy side and they will be there at the pointy end."
Wanderers coach Dan Beckett couldn't fault his side's effort and conceded that losing Simmons and Bennett to likely season-ending injuries had "rattled" them.
"We have had a clunky season and were looking forward to putting in a good performance," he said. "To lose our captain, to lose a senior player and to lose a young kid who is super talented, it rattled us.
"The heart was there. We still did some really good things but we were up against a good side and they got us."
Wanderers on Tuesday night play the first of two catch-up games when they host Nelson Bay, who accounted for Singleton 29-7 on Saturday to leapfrog the Two Blues into fourth spot. Wanderers also have a make-up game against University.
Merewether sit on top of the table with 43 points.
"We have enough points now to see us through," Lind said. "Maitland are the only other top five team we have to face. We can get our injured players back without pushing them too hard.
"There are a heap of things these players are not motivated by. They are not motivated by rep stuff, they are not motivated by money ... or anything else. They are only motivated to play rugby here and win a premiership. They are pretty driven by that."
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One positive for the Two Blues was the performance of prop Dylan Evans off the bench. Evans returned to Newcastle earlier this year from Wales, where he played professionally for the last six years. Saturday's return was Evans' first game in almost a year after he ruptured a biceps muscle. He scrummaged strongly and made a number of big carries.
"He was incredible," Beckett said. "He is a leader of the group He is here to play with his mates, but it is unfortunate that a couple of them got hurt."
Elsewhere Saturday, University produced their best performance of the season to stun Maitland 27-15 at Marcellin Park.
The Students trailed 12-10 at the break but took control in the second half with winger Bay Wallace and halfback Murray Sutherland crossing for tries.
Captain Joe Kingham, Sutherland and halves partner Dane Sherratt led the way for the Students.
At Ernie Calland Field, Hamilton prop Chris Hemi powered his way to four tries as the Hawks accounted for Southern beaches 46-13.
Pointscore: Merewether 43, Hamilton 42, Maitland 28, Nelson Bay 24, Wanderers 23, University 16, Southern Beaches 6, Singleton 5.
