WINDSOR Wolves will host the Wentworthville Magpies in a big double header at the Windsor Complex on Sunday.
The Wolves and Magpies are both tied for second place with Asquith Magpies on the Ron Massey Cup ladder.
The Wolves are coming off a big loss to Mounties at the weekend, while the Magpies are coming off the bye.
Coach Brad Prior said the return of players from the Penrith Panthers under-20s and NSW Cup Team would be a big boost to the side.
"We're expecting a very tough game, they've been one of the bench mark teams for the past few years, it is never easy against them and we're not expecting anything different," he said.
Prior said the team struggled against the size of the Mounties' pack at the weekend, and said it was very important to win this weekend, with a two week break coming up.
He said it was important for big prop Sam Hollis and the other forwards to get on the front foot early.
"We've got a few under-20s players coming back who add quite a bit of size to the team," he said.
In the Sydney Shield, the Wolves are on top of the ladder, with the Magpies sitting in ninth place.
However, coach Chris Boyd said he was expecting a hard fight between the forward packs of the two teams.
"They've got some decent size, they're going to be hard to handle but we're quite confident if we control the ball and get to our kicks we'll go well against them," he said.
Boyd's team is also coming off a loss, but Boyd said it was a game which could have gone either way.
"Our team is the department of youth baby, it is pretty much all young kids with a couple of older guys," he said.
Boyd said the youth in the team performed well for the most part, but could be prone to defensive lapses.
"We started badly last week, we dropped a lot of ball and gave away penalties, and then doubled up on our mistakes," he said.
"I think they had 24 points already at half time, and we got it back to 32-30 in the second half.
"Last week was our worst defensive display of the year so we've spent some time fixing that."
Kick-off for the Sydney Shield game is 1pm, with the Ron Massey Cup kick-off at 3pm.
Starting line-up: 1. Raymond Lesoa 2. Andrew Cartisano 3. Paul Simona 4. Shane Kiel 5. Chris Aunese-Scanlan 6. Aaron Farkas 7. David Farkas 8. Sam Hollis 9. Sione Tonga 10. Thompson Yuigamala 11. Pat Hollis 12. Shenelle Haumono 13. Ryan Tramonte. Interchange: 14. Corey Waddell 15. Kaide Ellis 16. Hutch Maiava 17. Soni Hala. Coach: Brad Prior.
Starting line-up: 1. Lachlan Jackson 2. Jake Ennis 3. Marli Sini 4. Mario El Boustani 5. Jahmarley Fumiaono 6. Logan Geyer 7. Brandon Smallwood 8. Jack Quealey 9. Luke Atchison (captain) 10. Guy Hodgins 11. Cowen Epere 12. Kain Howarth 13. Dylan Fuad. Interchange: 14. Dean Barron 15. Fairhouz Elkander 16. Temate Rangi 17. Brandon Nangaiti 19. Carl Winterstein. Coach: Chris Boyd.
