LEAGUE - Coach: Storm need to step up

It's crunch time for the Northern Storm as they ready themselves for a run of three vital away games, starting with a match in Hamilton on Sunday against Waicoa Bay.
Competition in the Bartercard Cup is getting a lot tighter, as was illustrated by last week's results, which showed that the teams in the bottom half of the table are now closing the gap on the top-rated teams in the NZ premier rugby league competition.
Northern Storm coach Phil Marsh admitted to feeling a little nervous at the beginning of the second round and said his team need to convert close losses into close wins.
"We've let chances to win a couple of extra matches go by the wayside and now the pressure is mounting for us," he said. "We need to get the results now, we can't wait any longer. We've got a five-week stretch of games that will determine our season and we're looking to achieve a better-than-50-percent win record in those games."
Marsh said some early strugglers had strengthened their teams to the point that there were no longer any easybeats.
The coach said that, with the Bartercard competition set to go through some big changes next year, it was an opportunity for the players to show that Northland had the strength to complete at a national level.
"We've shown in patches that we can this season but we need the results now to push that home," he said.
The side will have to beat Waicoa Bay without key half Woody Maihi, unavailable through work commitments this weekend. Vern Wilson is the other absence from the team who pushed Canterbury close, for 75 minutes of last weekend's fixture.
"There are a couple of teams that aren't playing in the local league this week so we'll see if we can replace them there," Marsh said.
In the two matches in the Whangarei and Districts league tomorrow, Kaikohe Lions host Marist and Hikurangi Stags host Moerewa.
Both matches could be critical in the run-in to the playoffs, with Moerewa leading newcomers Hikurangi on the table by just a single point. Kaikohe will also have a point to prove at home after beating Marist in the first round, only to have the result overturned in the committee room because they played an ineligible player.
The Lions also need to halt an uncharacteristic losing streak which has seen them lose two games in a row.