The Hunter Hurricanes men’s side will head back to Sydney bracing for tougher assignments this weekend in the National Water Polo League.
Hunter opened their campaign with away wins over Drummoyne 11-7 and UTS Balmain 6-4 last weekend and take on Sydney Uni Lions and Cronulla on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
Both were top-three sides last year and Hurricanes coach Dan Robinson expected them to be in the title mix again this season, despite the Lions reportedly losing Olympian Johnno Cotterill.
Cronulla, who boast national team stars AJ Roach and Joe Kayes, lost to Balmain in round one but Sydney Uni will start their season against Hunter.
“Sydney Uni and Cronulla look like they will be tougher battles for us," Robinson said. “But we match up against them well, we’ve done the work, so we’re pretty confident.
“They were two and three last year so I expect them to be top-six sides again.”
Robinson expected to have an unchanged squad, which includes returning star Gordon Marshall and Mitch and Keegan Marsden.
“Gordy was very solid for us on the Saturday and he lifted for us on the Sunday as well,” he said. “He was six from eight on the Saturday, which kept us moving forward.
“Mitch and Keenan won seven out of eight swim-offs, which was good, and it’s certainly nice to have smart players in the water.”
The Hunter women, who beat Balmain 9-8 and lost 9-3 loss to Drummoyne last weekend, also meet Sydney Uni and Cronulla.
