It’s not often a round four encounter holds much significance so early in the season.

But, for the Central Newcastle Butcher Boys and Western Suburbs Rosellas, Saturday’s 16 April clash at St John Oval has taken on “must-win” proportions to kick-start their respective Tooheys Newcastle Rugby League (Real NRL) campaigns.

Both top five outfits in 2021, neither is yet to taste success this year.

So far, the Butcher Boys have fallen to the Maitland Pickers (24-10) and South Newcastle Lions (36-22), while the Rosellas suffered consecutive defeats at the hands of the Cessnock Goannas (14-10), Pickers (24-6) and Kurri Kurri Bulldogs (14-4).

However, it was Central Newcastle’s shock loss to their southern rivals, the Lions, at the weekend, which might have awoken the beast.

“I think there was a lot of self-reflection within the playing group itself on how we can be better individually,” star fullback Cameron Anderson said.

“There’s plenty of onus on that.

“We’ve had a bit of a distorted start, but I believe it hit home at Townson Oval on Saturday that it (our game) wasn’t up to scratch.

“We have got to be better as a playing group – and represent the club better.

“There’s really no excuses.”

Scoring has never been an issue for the Butcher Boys either, with a strong attacking arsenal at their disposal.

But, Anderson’s fully aware more needs to be done in the lead-up to the side’s matches.

“The points are there,” he said.

“We’ve got strike power across the park however, sometimes, that can be our downfall, too.

“We feel like we should be putting points on, instead of laying the foundations right and getting in that arm wrestle.

“It showed at the weekend.

“When we held the ball, we were able to put sets back-to-back, roll up field and crash over pretty regularly.

“However, our discipline and dropped pill just let us down at the end of the day and gave Souths too much possession.

“I think we completed at 60% – you can’t win a footy game with that.

“So, we’ve worked on that at training this week.

“The coaches laid down the law, along with the senior playing group, that our quality [at training] must be better and needs to be at a standard that we take into a match.

“We definitely had a good chat about it.”

Anderson said the Butcher Boys were now primed to tackle the Rosellas, although he’s expecting a huge tussle.

“Obviously, they’re desperate for a victory after coming off a loss as well,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.

“But, we should be the most desperate team in the competition at the moment, being 0-2 (with a washout up our sleeves).

“It’s not the start we wanted – and not the goal we set.

“Coming into this clash, we need to make sure we’re ready to fire from the get-go.

“I think it will come off the defence for us, as Wests boasts plenty of strike power, too.

“They’ve got some really good footballers among them.

“So, it’ll be a pretty tight contest, however I’m confident we’ll be fine.”

Despite the slow start to 2022, Anderson remains positive the Butcher Boys have what it takes to challenge for the title this season.

“The past two years have been interrupted by COVID-19 and, before that, the club dealt with the Joel Dark tragedy,” he said.

“To be honest, that has made things hard at times.

“However, we’re moving on – and we’ve laid some foundations.

“The boys who’ve stuck around from 2021 want to build from that and go as far as we can.

“We’re keen to be there at the end of the season, within that top three.

“Then we can really give this competition a massive crack.”

Saturday’s match begins at 3pm.

Meanwhile, the Goannas and Bulldogs kick off the Easter fixtures at the Cessnock Sports Ground on Thursday night.

On Good Friday, The Entrance Tigers host the Macquarie Scorpions at EDSACC Oval North and the Lions meet the Wyong Roos at Townson Oval.

Twenty-four hours later, the Lakes United Seagulls lock horns with the Pickers at Cahill Oval.

2022 Tooheys Newcastle Rugby League (Real NRL)

Denton Engineering Cup

Round three results:

• Lakes United Seagulls d Wyong Roos 18-16
• Maitland Pickers d The Entrance Tigers 38-12
• Macquarie Scorpions d Cessnock Goannas 20-10
• South Newcastle Lions d Central Newcastle Butcher Boys 36-12
• Kurri Kurri Bulldogs d Western Suburbs Rosellas 14-4

Round four draw:

Thursday 14 April

• 8pm: Cessnock Goannas v Kurri Kurri Bulldogs (Cessnock Sports Ground)

Friday 15 April

• 2.30pm: The Entrance Tigers v Macquarie Scorpions (Cessnock Sports Ground)
• 3pm: South Newcastle Lions v Wyong Roos (Townson Oval)

Saturday 16 April

• 3pm: Lakes United Seagulls v Maitland Pickers (Cahill Oval)
• 3pm: Central Newcastle Butcher Boys v Western Suburbs Rosellas (St John Oval)

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