Shamrocks face another Illawarra rugby union heavyweight at Ocean Park just a week after falling just 97 seconds short of ending the 24-game winning streak of defending back-to-back champions Shoalhaven.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kiama, who is considered by many to have the best chance of challenging the Shoals for the title this season, head to Woonona on Saturday looking to continue their winning start to the season after impressing with a first-round 45-13 victory over the Tech Waratahs.
The James Patrick-coached Kiama Cows will fancy their chances of another win against an undermanned Sharmrocks, who will definitely miss star man Jesse Parahi and loose-head prop Lachlan Caudoro.
Question marks also remain over the availability of Xavier Mcdevitt and Tyreece George but Shamrocks coach Paul Ridgway said his team could take some confidence from their impressive showing against Shoalhaven in round one.
"It was obviously disappointing to lose but we definitely did take some confidence from how we played against Shoals," Ridgway said.
"They had a few important players out but we talked before the game about how they are the measuring stick of the competition and it was important for us to play to our strengths, good core skill and executing those sorts of things on repeat for long periods of time through the game.
"That's kind of how we have to play given our playing group. And I think we did that pretty well and we gave ourselves opportunities, one or two we didn't take, but we gave ourselves opportunities and we were in it right to the death, obviously.
"It was a bit disappointing for the boys I guess in terms of the result but we were happy with the effort, especially as we came into that game without a trial match."
Ridgway though felt comfortable the Shamrocks were ready for the challenge of playing potentially the top two teams in the competition in successive weeks.
"It's still early in the season and Campbelltown are another club highly fancied this year but going off Kiama's showing last week and what they achieved last year, I'd say it's fair to say they're probably just behind Shoalhaven," he said.
"As far as we are concerned we've just got to keep showing up each week, train well, and then just focus on what we can do on the paddock each time that we get an opportunity.
"Playing the top two teams is not a bad measuring stick, at least you know where you're at and then you can sort of go from there.
"I guess that the challenge for us will be just keeping our guys healthy, making sure that they can be on the park week in week out, making sure that we're not stretching our depths too much once we sort of get through those top teams."
In other games on Saturday, Shoalhaven hosts Campbelltown Harlequinns, Vikings take on Bowral at Vikings Rugby Park and Tech Waratahs play Camden at Saunders Oval.