RUTHERGLEN coach Karl Jacka is confident he has a good team at his disposal.
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But Jacka said the Cats may be a while off showing it after more on and off field changes swept through the club over the summer.
Jacka is Rutherglen’s fifth senior coach in the past five years, following Dallas Gallagher, Darren Hatton, Gil Ould and Mark Sarau.
While the player turnover may not look huge on paper, it adds up when you consider players like Chris Oates and Jarryd Hatton are returning to the club and Lindsay Seymour virtually missed all of 2014 due to injury.
“I think pound for pound talent wise we are pretty good,” Jacka said.
“We are lucky to have a lot of talent at the club, and our under-17s have played grand finals in recent years as well.
“But what we really need is stability.
“The blokes have had five coaches in five years and they have to get some faith in what myself and the coaching staff are doing.
“A lot of them have played 30 or 40 games and just need time to be allowed to settle.
“Our form has been really patchy so far and that comes down to getting to know each other, settling a side and sticking to the same game plan week-in week-out.”
After falling to Wahgunyah in round 1 before bouncing back against Dederang-Mount Beauty, Jacka is unsure how the Cats are tracking heading into Sunday’s clash against Beechworth at Beechworth.
The game has been re-sche- duled from the June long week- end and will be the only TDFL match played.
“Beechworth is similar to us in that they have turned over a fair few players,” Jacka said.
“They have good guys in good spots and have two wins on the board already.
“We made five changes after round 1 and could make a couple more this week.”
While ball magnet Ian Kay remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, Seymour (pneumonia), Sam Fielder (foot), Jakeb Meyer (abductor) and David Pinney (spider bite) are pushing for selection.
Beechworth worked hard to defeat Yackandandah last weekend and will need to bring the same commitment to the table to stay undefeated.
Brenton Surrey will lead the way in the heavy conditions while Dylan Pritchard has been flying the flag in attack.
The match starts at 2.15pm on Sunday, and OAKFM will be broadcasting a TDFL match live for the first time, with coverage starting at 1pm.
