Samoan starter

By Gavin Staindl
THE Berwick Miners have enlisted the one-off help of ex-NRL and Samoan representative Shannon Stowers to kick-start their season.
Stowers, who played for the New Zealand Warriors and represented his country at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, is jetsetting to North America to try his luck in the NFL but before he makes his bold trip overseas he will play a cameo match with the Miners.
Berwick certainly needs a helping hand after they slumped to their third straight loss after losing to the Crusaders 19-0 at Sydney Pargeter Reserve.
The Miners found themselves stuck in the middle of their own turf as muddy conditions prevented the home side from scoring for the third time this season.
But Miners coach Mel Martin is excited that Stowers may be the saving grace the Miners are looking for – even if he is only playing the one game.
“The offence needs to start scoring. And they need to start scoring this week. As soon as we get that one touchdown it will be morale boosting,” Martin said.
The Miners on Sunday experienced the same problems that have plagued the start of their season.
“We just weren’t successful enough with our offence.
“I can’t complain about our defence, we just need consistency on offence,” Martin said.
Quarterback Andrew Nixon completed 10 passes from 26 attempts but failed to convert more than five plays in a single drive.
The conditions did not help Nixon’s cause.
The out-of-form quarterback had to deal with slushy conditions in the middle and was trying to find targets with a heavy and slippery ball.
At the other end, the Crusaders were able to gain valuable yards by passing the ball out to the sides where the ground was firmer and greener.
In contrast, the Miners defence was again constructive but Martin still sees room for improvement in both lines.
“We have a rookie defensive back field and like everyone on the team we are all making mistakes that you would associate with a young team.
“Three of four times the backfield got beaten. They were up against good receivers but they’re making mistakes like not reading the play and not countering at the right time which becomes second nature with experience,” Martin said.
The Miners head to Footscray next week to take on the Warriors for the second time in three weeks but Martin is using this game as an opportunity to gauge the improvement in the Miners camp.
“I’m looking forward to the game because every week there is an area of improvement.
“We will be looking to eight year veteran Scott Sutherland to stand up and run the ball a bit more and our main focus for the week will be to get to the point where we can run the ball viably,” Martin said.