Parkes Spacemen will head into their opening round of the Tooheys Group XI competition in Wellington this Sunday missing iconic captain-coach Dennis Moran.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The mercurial half suffered a major leg injury last year and is not expected to return for the Spacemen until mid-June at the earliest.
After a solid pre-season, the Spacemen are keen to get the competition underway on a positive note to build some momentum for the season ahead.
Moran is confident his charges can do just that and claim the points against Wellington.
“The boys are going alright so far and if they can put it together on Sunday, they will be tough to knock over,” he said.
“We still need to improve in some areas which we have worked on at training.
“We are not a big side, so we need to ‘own up’ in the middle of the park.
“I will look for the boys to be stronger in defence against Wellington on Sunday.
“We have the skill to score points if we can stay strong defensively and build a platform off that.
“The Cowboys are always very tough at home.
“They usually get a very parochial crowd which gives them a lift.
“It will be a good test to tell us how we are going early on,” he said.
Moran is looking for more leadership from some of the younger players in his squad and believes they have stepped up accordingly.
He has put more responsibility on his Group XI representatives with big seasons expected from Sam Dwyer, Jordan Pope, Brandon Tago and Ethan McKellar.
“They are part of the core of the team,” Moran added.
“I expect them to really step up this season and become leaders in the squad, even though they are still young.
“They have loads of representative experience and they should come back from tomorrow’s Group XI versus Group 10 game and lead by example.
“Hopefully they come through unscathed.
“They deserve a lot of recognition for their selection, as do our girls Sally Dwyer, Clair Barber, Ella-Jay Harris, and Demi Winter who will be in action for the Group in league tag.
“It is a real positive for the club to count these representatives in our number.
“We need to get everyone together at training to ensure we have a great season.”
It has been an unusual pre-season for the veteran Parkes half as he has been forced to watch from the stands.
“It’s so frustrating not to be going out there with the boys, it’s killing me,” he said.
“I hate watching the boys do the hard work while I sit on the sidelines.
“I am itching to get back out there!”
