Breaking through for their first win of the season will give the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles an extra lift in confidence against a strong Sydney Roosters team on Saturday.
The Sea Eagles beat the New Zealand Warriors 26-6 at Mt Smart Stadium last Saturday to now sit in 11th place with one win from six matches in the NSWRL Jersey Flegg (U20s) competition.
The Roosters sit in fourth place with four wins from their six matches ahead of the clash with the Sea Eagles at Berkeley Oval on the Central Coast.
"It will be a good challenge as the Roosters are a pretty good side, '' said Sea Eagles Coach Wayne Lambkin.
"The boys are feeling positive and deserved their first win last week."
Lambkin said the team's completion rate in the first 40 minutes laid the platform for the win.
"We appreciated having the football in the first half. We completed 15 out of 17 sets and led 14-0 at half-time,'' he said.
"It meant we were able to build pressure on our opposition and score a few tries in a first half that was played in pelting rain, so to complete 15 out of 17 was really good.
"In the second half, we went out and completed two of our first 10 sets and struggled for a little while. My idea of building pressure of holding onto the footy and kicking it wasn't happening.
"We got back in the game again and scored a couple of late tries to Luke Metcalf.
"There were some good signs with Luke. We spoke during the week about a few things he needed to come up with as a five-eighth. He scored a couple of tries running the footy with people around him which was good."
Lambkin also praised prop John Tuivaiti for his performances in the first six weeks of the competition.
"John has been a standout. For a front-rower, he is playing up to 60-70 minutes every week,'' Lambkin added.
"His efforts are unbelievable and he is running the ball well. He is doing everything really well.
"John missed out on a bench spot in the grand final last year and I think he has taken that a bit to heart.
"He is using that as motivation to take him to the next level and I'm really pleased with him."
Round 7 Jersey Flegg
Manly vs Sydney Roosters
Berkeley Oval, Saturday, April 21, 1pm
Sea Eagles team
1 Tevita Funa
2 Alfred Smalley
3 Semisi Kioa
4 Tom Kenny
5 Bilal Maarbani
6 Luke Metcalf
7 Cade Cust ©
8 Jaiden Tarrant
9 Zaan Weatherall
10 John Tuivaiti
11 Kees Nicholson
12 Jordan Main
13 Finn Heath
Interchange
14 Michael Fenn
15 Max Barry
16 Mark Tepu-Smith
17 Kurt Schultz
21 Ben Gleeson
