Port Douglas coach Brad Cooper made the most of his side's Thursday night timeslot to do a bit of scouting on Saturday.
And after watching top-three rivals Saints and Norths romp home, he says they have a bit of work to do. Port were good in their win against Centrals in tough conditions at Crathern Park on Thursday night, keeping them goal-less for two quarters and sharing the goals between them.
Despite the comfortable 15.14 (104) to 3.3 (21) win, Cooper said they would have to find another level to match the top two.
"I watched the first half of the Saints game and the second half of the Norths and both were very impressive," he said. "Saints are well-structured, familiar with each other and well-drilled. North Cairns have top-line players in every line."
"When we've played them with near-full strength teams we haven't challenged either side, so we'll need to jell better."
Port, who sit one win behind Saints in third, have a bye this weekend before a five-game run to finals. "We've got five weeks to get ourselves in order.
We have been making five or so changes every week, so hopefully we can get them (our full strength) team out there as much as possible."
Fluent play was made tough on Thursday night when one of the light towers at Crathern Park did not turn on.
Despite some players being critical of the facility this season, Cooper said all it needed was more attention to the lighting to be a quality ground.
"It's pretty close to being absolutely fine. I just think the league could spend a bit of money and add a bit more light to it, that's probably all it needs," he said.
Last Modified on 10/09/2013 16:09