WHARFEDALE coach Jon Feeley will be asking his team to be both mentally and physically prepared as they get set to take on Hinckley and their heavy pack at the Avenue this Saturday.

The Greens are coming off a 43-19 defeat at Stourbridge, a game which saw them fighting an uphill battle after they went 14-0 behind early in the first half.

"We took too long to get into the game," said Wharfedale coach Jon Feeley. "We didn't start effectively because we were not mentally prepared."

However, Feeley was happy with his team's work ethic, as they had to cope with the loss of their seventh second rower to injury this season.

“I thought our work at the breakdown was sharp and forward unit worked tirelessly throughout, especially as we as we had to compensate for losing Sam ‘Carrot’ Smith.

Smith had to be carried off at the end of the first half and had to be taken to casualty.

"Second row is a key position," said Feeley, who pointed out that his team's manner of defeat was similar to England's loss to South Africa in the World Cup final. "You saw that with England on Saturday, if you don't parity in line-out and win the jump balls, it can be costly."

The under-weight Wharfedale pack also struggled in scrums until the Greens brought Matt Beesley and Jack Hirst to provide more weight, a decision which shored up the pack.

He said that despite the team's concerns about giving the ball away which led to some mistakes, he was pleased with the Greens attacking play.

"We had some well-worked phases of play which led to three good tries," said Feeley, who pointed out that one of Wharfedale's try scorers, South African Matt Speres, seemed to be inspired by his compatriots' rock-solid performance against England.

Wharfedale are set to face another heavy pack this Saturday when Hinckley will visit the Avenue, a match which kicks off at 2pm.

Hinckley, who had a slow start to the season, are back up to mid-table, one place ahead of Wharfedale, thanks to victories while playing against teams in "challenging" pitch conditions, which Feeley said suits Hinckley's style of play.

Hickley did the double over Wharfedale last season when they beat the Greens 33-20 at the Avenue and 33-24 at De Montfort Park.

"It's a similar story in what the opposition will bring," said Feeley. "We're back at home, so we'll spend a lot of time in training to deal with these larger packs.

"We also need to look at how we're going to compete in the line-out and be wise in our decision making."

Feeley said George Hedgley and Josh Burridge will face fitness tests in training this week to determine if they will be ready for Saturday.

Feeley said back rower Matty Houghton, who came on a substitute last Saturday, is getting closer to match fitness but he faces stiff competition for places from the likes of Speres, Jamie Brookes and Chris Walker.