Norths coach Dan Ritchie says his side blew an opportunity to claim their first win of the season in a 20-all draw with Sunnybank last weekend. 

Norths scored two early tries and led 14-0 for the majority of the first half before letting an in-form Sunnybank side back into the match. 

The Eagles kicked two penalty goals in the final 10 minutes to lead 20-15 but conceded a try after the 80th minute moments after causing what should have been a match winning turnover. 

“It was definitely a game that got away from us. It was a missed opportunity but in saying that, we lost an entire front row and a halfback in the first 50 minutes to injury and we found a way to hang on,” Ritchie told Rugby News. 

“It was gutsy. I don’t think I’ve seen that sort of resolve from a Norths’ defensive line for a while now and I was really proud of them. 

“In saying that though, we were in a position to win that game and we weren’t able to do it.”

While Ritchie said there were plenty of positives to take from the match, he said his young side’s game management needs to improve if they want to take the next step and compete against the best sides in the competition. 

“The average age of our backline on the weekend was 21.5 so game management is always going to be important when you’ve got so many young players. 

“But the only way you improve that is to be in the hot seat and to find ways to work through tricky situations in the heat of the moment. 

“We’ll learn a lot from that experience and we know what we need to do if we want to take that next step as a side.”

Despite the missed opportunity, Ritchie was full of praise for a number of his young stars, all of whom he thinks have big futures ahead of them. 

“Ollie Harris at loosehead prop has played every minute this season so far. For a 21-year old in the front row, he’s been really impressive. He’s showed his power and dominance at scrum time and works really well around the park 

“Will McCullough at fullback made a number of try saving tackles and kicked a bunch of clutch penalty goals. You’ve got to keep reminding yourself that he’s still colts age. 

“He’s with the Junior Wallabies now but it’s next man up. Alex Smith will shift to fullback this week and he’s another young guy that has played really well so far this year. He played No.13 against Sunnybank and set up our second try with his acceleration. He’s a really good footballer.”

Norths host a Mick Heenan coached Bond outfit this weekend who lost matches to Sunnybank and Wests on either side of a bye in round two and Ritchie said his side is hoping to make the Students’ long road trip as uncomfortable as possible. 

“Mick is obviously an incredibly successful coach and he has an aurora about him, wherever he is coaching. 

“We’re very much aware of how well prepared they will be but in saying that, they haven’t started the season as well as they would have liked and look to be in a bit of a transition period. 

“They were the best team in the competition last year in my opinion but they are probably just adjusting from the way they played last year to the way they want to play this year under Mick. 

“They’ll be ready to play but like us, they’ve got some young guys who are still finding their feet in first grade and we are going to try and make it as uncomfortable for them as possible on Saturday.”