By MARK CASHMAN

Randwick coach Ben McCormack would like nothing better than to have a team of Mitch Shorts and Christian Yassmins in his side each week.

As the Wicks hit the halfway mark of the Shute Shield McCormack says they are his side’s standouts as the boys from Coogee hit a testing and season defining period in their draw.

Ultra professional and confident are the words that the Randwick boss uses to describe Yassmin and Short.

The premiership dream of 2021 is still alive but the next month will be critical for a side that sits in eighth position with four wins and four losses.

Here’s McCormack’s take on the road to the finals:

ALL THE NUMBERS

Played 8, won 4, Lost 4
Points For: 251
Points Against: 231
Differential: 20
Ladder position: Eighth on 21 points

How would you describe your first half of the season? 

We are just trying to just find some consistency in performance at the moment, our best is good enough to be there when the whips are cracking. Unfortunately at the moment we’re struggling to put long periods of that quality together in games and then in back to back games.

We’re confident progression is not far away though, the groups got the work ethic needed and we’ve also got a few injuries and rep players coming back over the next month which will aid the cause.

Who has been the standout player so far?

We’ve got a lot of young up and comers who have been having a real crack so far which has been great to see but those blokes probably haven’t dominated a game just yet and have a bit more work to do.

Statistically Christian Yassmin has been excellent (and quick to remind me of this), he’s a great man to have around any group with his confidence and hunger for achievement.

He’s also settled into himself and his footy a lot over the past 12months which has allowed him to find some consistency.

Mitch Short would be the other standout – ‘Shorty’ is just ultra professional and one of the best on the park each week.

What’s been the difference between your best and worst performances so far this year? 

There’s a fair gap unfortunately – it’s just concentration on consistent execution of the basics, some of our group can get carried away thinking about the big things when it’s the execution of the little things that will take us to where we want to go.

How does your squad look for the backend of the season?

Good – A lot of our Tahs boys are injured at the moment but they’ll slowly start coming back and we’ve got a few other injuries returning – that will bring some real pressure back to performances for selection.

Which two teams will play in this year’s grand final? 

I said at the start of the year it would be a Uni v Randwick GF – we’ve definitely got our work cut out for us … but we’re up for the challenge.

IMAGE: KAREN WATSON