By MARK CASHMAN

Two yellow cards in the first half against Gordon in Round One signalled that Eastern Suburbs were concentrating on who they were playing and not on what makes their side tick along.

Sometimes that sort of stuff happens but it did suggest to Beasties coach Pauli Taumoepeau that there is work to do before they can be considered the side the rest of the competition think they can be.

When they take on West Harbour in the TV match of the round on Saturday the focus will be on themselves.

“We’re still very much internally focussed,” Taumoepeau said.

“I’ve seen Wests game v Norths but I didn’t really take anything out of it other than they’re a team with a lot of strike.

“They’ll be a different team this week so we’re just focused on ourselves at the moment. We need to execute our plan first.”

Wests coach Mark Gudmunson felt that their game against Northern Suburbs was an opportunity that had sailed past them.

“Our centres (Justin Tavae and Connor Chittenden) were outstanding I thought and our whole forward pack minus one worked overtime for the whole game,” he said

“To defend with 14 is extremely hard and our stats showed the work rate they had to endure.

“Everyone at the club is pleased to be able to showcase what we can do on TV early in the season.”

Gudmunson said his playing group was excited about the challenge Easts will bring and the opportunity to put right what wasn’t last weekend.

“We have had a good week, we did a really good video session and talked about how we deal with tough calls and park them to be able to focus on the game,” he said.

“We have really worked hard on ourselves this week and expect another big battle through the forwards. I expect this to be played very tight this weekend.”

EASTERN SUBURBS (1-15):

Vunipola Fifita, Moli Sooaemalelagi, Archer Holz, Agustin Escalona, Jeremy Williams, Jack Digby, Charlie Smith, Sam Shires, Jack Grant, Nick Holton, Jordan Jackson-Hope, Henry Paterson, Richard Woolf, Daniel Donato.

WEST HARBOUR (1-15): 

Sonny Satuala, Navi Bolatigici, Cameron Betham, Etienne Oosthuizen, Otto Wendt, Amos Viiga, Kaliova Nacina, Liam Moylan, Dion Spice, Josh Coward, James Turner, Justin Tavae, Connor Chittenden, Rod Davies, Josh Petero.