Cessnock Goannas break drought with 48-12 win against the Northern Hawks

Luke Huth and Harry O'Brien scored two tries each for the Goannas in the nine try to two victory at Cessnock Sportsground.

Goannas coach Harry Siejka said he didn't care how his side won, the most important thing was the result.

"The last four weeks we've had eight guys missing and they're not really rotation players, there's a couple of guys that are really important to our squad," he said.

"It has been a bit of a slog and we've been chopping and changing a bit which probably doesn't help the cause either.

"Yesterday was really important to get a win and whatever it looked like, we just had to win."

Cessnock went undefeated through the first eight rounds of the season before losses to Wyong, Souths and a draw with Central Newcastle dropped them to third on the competition ladder.

The Goannas were beaten 24-16 in a hard-fought Coalfields derby against Maitland last Saturday.

Siejka said his side responded well after a challenging six weeks, praising returning fullback Tony Pellow as a standout.

"Everything he sort of touched, he was creating opportunities and was probably unlucky to not get another couple of tries," he said.

"He's been out for six weeks, I just thought the way he carried himself in was really good.

"I thought (Luke) Huthy led them around the field really well and (Sam) Cluney and (Brayden) Musgrove had good games as well.

"A big effort off the bench from Jai See, he played 60 minutes straight as a middle."

The Goannas are likely to face a sterner test when they host The Entrance this Saturday at Cessnock Sportsground.

The Tigers are fifth on the competition ladder and are coming off the bye. Siejka said he would like his side to challenge the big Tigers forward pack.

"I want to take it to their middle a bit," he said. "They're a big side, I think their middle is where their strength is, they've got big guys and not just big, they're mobile sort of guys."

"I think with them and their number nine, they'll be pretty strong around the middle so I just want to go into that game and stick to our structure and our process and try and grind out a win, not try and take the easy option."

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