ROSEWOOD Roosters head coach Sam Collins welcomed a two-week break after his team celebrated their first win of the Rugby League Ipswich C-Grade season.
While building winning momentum is important, Collins was keen to give some injured players a rest after the Roosters overcame Karalee 24-12 in their latest game.
The victory fittingly came after the Roosters returned to Anzac Park.
“It was really good. They played exceptionally well,” Collins said.
“It was great in our first home game of the season.”
The Roosters had a bye last Saturday before another weekend off as no fixtures were scheduled due to the Ipswich Cup.
Collins said the short break was handy with about seven players on the injured list.
He said a positive in concentrating on C-Grade this year was having more depth with a squad of 35 players.
That allows Collins to implement a rotation system to manage niggling injuries and their workloads.
Collins, working closely with assistant coach Josh Hassett, said he was delighted with the Karalee win.
“We are going good, me and Joshy. We are on the same wavelength,” Collins said.
“They are a really good group of boys down there.
“We’re building and building.
“It’s just getting everyone to fit in and they’re starting to do that now.”
The Roosters had come close to victory in an earlier 24-22 loss to Norths.
They also battled hard going down 22-6 against C-Grade competition leaders Swifts.
The Roosters endured a 50-0 defeat to Redbank Plains on a day they debuted eight players still forming new combinations.
However, overall, Collins was happy his team was making progress in the nine-team competition.
“I think we’ll just keep building on the way we are going,” he said.
“This year is going to be a great year to get all those combinations back for us and we’ve got some players that haven’t played for a long time as well, so they’ve come back and getting back into the swing of the side.
“The goal this year was to be competitive and I think we are doing that.”
Fullback Jacob Short scored two tries against Karalee with prop Lachlan McQueen also crossing for a four-pointer.
“Lachie has been our standout the whole season,” Collins said.
Lock Mason Barwick has been another consistent performer, sharing the captaincy duties with Sam’s son Zac at five-eight.
Second rower Jasper Strong has been the regular goalkicker.
Collins was also pleased to have halfback Cody Adams wanting to play against Karalee before he heads overseas next month with his first NSL (National Speedsoft League) team.
After the four-day global tournament in The Netherlands, Adams plans to rejoin his Roosters teammates.
Adams combined beautifully in the Karalee game, linking with Zac Collins in the halves.
“That’s the first game this season he’s played for us,” the head coach said.
“He wanted to just have a crack before he left (with the Australian team) and he was a big asset for that winning side.
“He’s an exceptional halfback.”
The Roosters next match is against Redbank Plains at their home venue on June 28.
