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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Renee Valentine

Wildfires put it all on line against Warringah: Jack Scott Cup

BIG LOSS: Kate Holland is unavailable due to work this weekend. Picture: Marina Neil

Hunter Wildfires coach Joey de Dassel is taking nothing for granted as they face a must-win match with Warringah in the final round of Jack Scott Cup at Pittwater Park on Friday night.

The Wildfires were 24-12 winners over Warringah when they played in the third round of the Sydney women's premier rugby union competition.

Hunter got off to a flying start, racking up 21 unanswered points in the first half before their opponents staged a second-half fightback.

But that was back on May 21 and, while Hunter remain fourth in the competition standings, they have not won since beating Eastern Suburbs on May 28.

RELATED: Hunter Wildfires' historic deal to pay women players

"There's not much to be taken out of that [last win over Warringah], it was a long time ago," de Dassel said.

"We've had pretty big personnel changes since that game and they've got a lot of good players in their team, and this is their last game of the year and they'll certainly be looking to knock us off.

"We can't finish any better than fourth, but if we lose and the team below us win with a bonus point then we can potentially miss out so we need to win."

Maryann Utai (knee), Callie Winsor (broken ankle) and Shana Povey (knee) missed last weekend's 15-10 loss to Eastern Suburbs and all remain sidelined through injury.

Second-rower Kate Holland is also unavailable due to work commitments.

"[Kate] is a big loss," de Dassel said. "She's consistently been one of our best players every week.

"But we've got good depth and will still have a good side and we'll go in expecting if we do our best we'll come away with a win."

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