Eastwood are preparing for what coach Ben Batger considers one of the toughest road trips in the Shute Shield on Saturday when his side heads to Forshaw to take on Southern Districts. 

The Woodies and Rebels have built a strong rivalry over the past decade and while Eastwood have the 2014 grand final victory to look back on, Souths’ have arguably had the better of the two side’s clashes in recent years. 

“It’s a tough place to win, that’s for sure,” Batger told Rugby News. 

“I remember our trip down there last year particularly well because they absolutely belted us.

“I still maintain that on that particular day, they were the best team we played all year last season, so it’s going to be a tough battle.” 

Batger’s praise of the Rebels’ performance in the 34-19 round one victory last season provides an interesting insight into Southern Districts and their potential. 

The Rebels were decimated by injury last season and missed the playoffs but have recruited well and were anything but disgraced in a tight 17-14 loss to competition favourites Eastern Suburbs in round one. 

“There are a lot of new faces in the side and I don’t know a whole lot about them to be honest but every Todd Louden coached team is very well drilled,” Batger continued. 

“Based on what I saw last week, they are going to be physical and compete for absolutely everything.”

Eastwood trailed Western Sydney 12-7 midway through the first half in their opening round clash but eventually got the better of the Two Blues in a comfortable bonus point win. 

Despite the second half effort, Batger wasn’t overly please with the performance. 

“We probably got a bit ahead of ourselves last week. You’ve got to do the basics well first and foremost before you worry about structure or flashy plays,” the coach said. 

“You’ve got to win your set piece, control the ball and make your tackles before you think about anything else and we didn’t do that last week.” 

The coach was pleased with a number of his troops though, particularly debutant Charlie Cale. 

“Charlie had an excellent debut but the battle now is to perform like that consistently. I thought Chris Bell controlled the game really well at flyhalf and Sione Tau set an excellent standard with his aggression and intent.”

“I think it’s going to be won up front and in the effort areas on Saturday. If our forwards can get on top and give the backline some time and space that would be ideal. 

“But we also need to compete for 80 minutes against Souths because we know they will never give in.” 

Eastwood meet Souths at Forshaw at 3:05pm on Saturday with the match broadcast live on Stan Sport.