WHEN the 2017 Group 10 premier league season kicked off, versatile St Pat’s back Nathan Lawrence was confident his side could push for the minor premiership.
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However, it has not played out that way and now, as just three rounds of the regular home and away season remain, the Saints find themselves in a must win situation.
Ahead of this Saturday’s away match against Lithgow, the Saints sit in eighth position. They trail fifth-placed Cowra by four points.
It means the blue and whites need to win each of their remaining games and hope that Cowra falters. Still, Lawrence has faith his team-mates can take part in the finals series.
“At the beginning of the season I was very confident, I thought we were going to be at the top. Unfortunately things haven’t gone that way, but we have got the squad, no doubt about that. We just need to put it together,” Lawrence said.
“We just need to stick together, play as a team, win the rest of our games and hopefully other results go our way and then we’ll be in the semis.”
Now in his third season with the Saints after making the switch from Dewsbury Celtic, Lawrence acknowledged there is significant pressure on himself and team-mates to perform.
But when facing that same pressure last weekend, the Saints beat Cowra 24-16 and that performance has raised spirits.
“When you lose a lot of games in a row some of the boys get their heads down, but after a weekend when we perform like that, everyone has got their heads high now,” Lawrence said.
“We are going into this next game in good spirits and we are going to try and play that good footy again.
“Lithgow, it’s not the easiest place to go to and I think any team in the comp will say that as well. Lithgow down there, they are just a different team. It’s going to be tough, but if we play like we did last weekend, I don’t think we are going to have any dramas.”
Lawrence himself has been one of the Saints most consistently strong performers so far this season.
That he has done so while being shuffled from fullback to the wing, to five-eighth and back into the number one jumper, highlights his worth.
“I played fullback the first few games this season, but then we got a few more players in and Hank [coach Kurt Hancock] put me on the wing. I played well on the wing so he said he’d keep me there.
“But then obviously we got injuries and I got shuffled to five-eighth and then he decided to put me back to fullback. It’s not easy being shuffled around because you’ve got to learn where you’ve got to be in every single position.”
Saturday’s match in Lithgow will kick off at 2pm.
