ROUND 18 RESULT

 Mitchell worries for Pigs' mental health

ANTONY STEWART Townsville Bulletin  July 26th, 2010

NQ McDonald’s RAZORBACKS' coach Ken Mitchell is praying his charges aren't being mentally scarred by a worrying recent trend of having games ripped from their grasp at the death. For the second consecutive State League game, North Queensland were forced to settle for a 1-all draw after a late goal from Whitsunday stole a point at Brolga Park on Saturday. Last week it was an almost identical story against the FNQ Bulls. A fortnight earlier Bundaberg snared a stunning late win while, bookmarked between those games, Brisbane scored late to ensure they too also took all three points. But of most concern to Mitchell is that all four strikes came from set pieces. "It's starting to become a bit of a concern mental-wise and (within the) self-belief of the side," Mitchell said. "I think it's a lack of concentration due to situations where we're a bit disorganised late in the game (and) fatigue sets in. With a restart, players generally have a tendency to switch off if they're not fully focused on what's going on ... so I'm more concerned by our mental well-being than just being disappointed." The injury concerns that have ravaged the Pigs haven't helped their cause, although they remain entrenched in the top four, with forced changes being a regularity week to week. And it will only get worse ahead of Sunday's round-19 clash with the Queensland Academy of Sport, with David Han and David Bowater to miss the game while playing at the national schoolboy titles. The long-awaited returns of Aaron Walker and Nathan Whitton will help ease the pain somewhat, but Mitchell won't rely on that alone to help North Queensland regain their killer edge. "Sometimes I get the feeling that with the amount of forced changes we've had to make, that we're back in pre-season and we're trying to gel the side together," he said. "All we can do in our conditioning sessions is to try some more team-building games where the players get some belief in each other and trust in each other. It's late in the season but we have to put ourselves in a situation where we get some stability back in the side."

NQ RAZORBACKS 1 (Searle) drew WHITSUNDAY MINERS 1 (Schaper).