By MARK CASHMAN

You know what you are going to get when Pat Sio is in your side and Eastwood coach Ben Batger is hoping that he delivers in spades when the Woods head to Mudgee to take on Sydney Uni on Saturday.

Sio has been a vital part of the Woods’ success in recent seasons and led the team to the Shute Shield grand final last year where they pushed Gordon all the way before succumbing late.

The 27-year-old has had a later start to the season after bedding in a new job that meant that he missed a fair bit of the pre-season and all of the trials, truncated though they were.

“That has meant that we have used him a bit off the bench with Sione Tau in our group for the first couple of rounds,” Batger told Rugby News.

“Sione’s suspension (he got three weeks at the judiciary earlier this week for a high shot in the game against Southern Districts) has given Patty a chance and he’s looking forward to it.

“I haven’t see a better work rate from a big running No.8 and if you watch him play anytime in the past few seasons Patty rarely goes backward when carrying the ball.

“He’s around the 120kg mark and there’s a lot of Wycliff Palu about him but he rarely drifts out of games and never shies away from the tough stuff.

“Everyone is looking forward to having him back in the run on side.”

Batger is also hoping to get some pay out of his midfielder Enoka Muliufi who was enormous in the 14-man effort against Southern Districts.

“Once Sione went off ‘Noka’ took it upon himself to do all the hard carrying and at 110kg he was channeling all those big Eastwood midfielders like Sione Piukala (The Bus) and Tommy Hill,” Batger added.

Keeping the Students on the back foot is part of a logical game that the Woods will take into the game at the magnificent Willow Glenn Regional Sports Stadium.

Set piece is going to be critical and Batger reckons that Rob Taylor has brought them back to the way that were playing 2019, the last time they won the Shute Shield.

“We’ve really got to watch them on transition – like the New Zealand Super Rugby teams they are absolutely deadly on turnovers,” Batger added.

“That means we’ve got to shade them or at least get parity at scrum and line out and make sure we carry well when we do have the ball.”

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Sydney Uni coach Rob Taylor has been able to welcome back a couple of Waratahs back into his side for this game with Sam Caird and Henry Robertson coming back for some vital game time.

Caird was one of the Tahs starting locks at the start of the Super Rugby AU season while Robertson has been in the wider squad but did make his debt earlier this season.

Another welcome addition for the Students is the presence of Nick Champion De Crespigny at No.8 and he is sure to ruffle a few feathers in his time on the field.

Sydney Uni v Eastwood will be streamed live on Stan Sport from 3.30pm

IMAGE: ANDREW QUINN