Burgess scan news leaves Macca with difficult call

7:10am Saturday 19th July 2008

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Steve McNamara faces a difficult call as to whether to risk Sam Burgess in tomorrow's engage Super League home match against Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

The 19-year-old prop went for his second scan of the week on an injured shoulder yesterday lunch-time and said last night: “I don’t want to say too much but the result was better than expected.”

As to whether he would feature against the Wildcats, the world’s best teenager said: “That’s up to Steve”.

Given McNamara’s comments about Burgess earlier in the week, however, it would be a calculated risk to play him in what is a vital encounter with the sixth and last play-off place up for grabs.

The Bulls coach watched his team make what he called “schoolboy errors” in going down 32-28 at Warrington Wolves last Friday.

But now, as the race for the end-of-season berths intensify, McNamara is only too aware that his team need to perform to improve a run of six defeats in eight matches.

On the mistakes ledger, he said: “A lot of it is down to individuals. The errors that were made last weekend were because a lot of our backfield were throwing passes they shouldn’t have and dropping the ball while playing it.

“These are elementary mistakes and we need to get smarter in areas like concentration and understanding the scoreboard and the situation, which our players are smart enough to do. We are all aware if we cut those things out we should be okay for tomorrow.

“Sometimes the opposition force errors on you but the Michael Platt play-the-ball error last week was because he had been hit hard in a heavy tackle and wasn’t quite aware of where he was, but there are other errors in that game that we put on ourselves.

“On the other hand, we try to force errors from the opposition and hopefully they come up with some of the mistake we did.”

Wakefield have their Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull to look forward to a week tomorrow but McNamara reckons that could have a positive effect on the Wildcats.

He said: “It is quite possible they might come here tomorrow with one eye on the semi-final but probably more in relation to the fact that they will all want to play in that game and they will be keen to put in a good performance to make it impossible for them to be left out of the semi-final side.

“I know if I was a player in their position I would be putting my best foot forward to make sure I was in the side, so I am sure we will see the best of Wakefield.

“The game is tough enough and if you have one eye off it you will get hurt anyway. You have to focus on what’s before you or there won’t be a next week if it all goes wrong for you.

“I am sure they will be highly motivated because they have places to play for in the semi-final and the way the league table is at the moment, sixth spot is up for grabs, so it’s a big, big game for both sides.”

Meanwhile, Iestyn Harris has confessed to enjoying playing hooker, saying: “It’s been good. I have covered a few positions this year and I’ve enjoyed it.

“Things have gone pretty well, although the results could have been better. But our performances are improving and hopefully that will show in the results.

“I thought we did enough to win at Warrington but we made some crucial errors in some crucial parts of the field and you get burnt when you do that.”