Western Rams under-18s coach Cameron Greenhalgh will be keeping a close eye on his players’ attitude during Saturday’s pre-season hit-out against the Manly Sea Eagles’ SG Ball side at Caltex Park.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Rams under-16s and under-18s will be in action at Dubbo, with each squad split in two teams of 15 for the hit out against their NRL club counterparts.
The Rams under-18s Green and under-18s White sides will both take to the field on Saturday and despite it being mid-January, Greenhalgh is already planning for the 2017 Country Championships campaign.
“Their attitude this early in defence and attack,” Greenhalgh said when asked what he was looking for in this match.
Footy comes around quick...
- Cameron Greenhalgh
“I’m looking for keenness and if they’re keen then they’re obviously ready to play footy, not just there to go through the motions.
“They (Country Championships) will come around quick enough. After this the squad will be cut back and then we’ve got one more trial before the squad is announced.
“After that it’s just a couple more training runs before the Championships. Footy comes around quick and everyone is getting itchy feet to get going again.”
The Rams have already held a number of training sessions this pre-season, beginning in November at Warren.
But the Sea Eagles’ SG Ball side will also be well-prepared on Saturday, with the squad just weeks away from the start of its season.
“This will be one of the last, if not the last, trial they have,” Greenhalgh said.
“But they won’t come out expecting an easy time after last year’s game. I expect it will be pretty high-paced and they’ll be big and mobile so we’ll have to be on our toes in defence.”
Dubbo is heavily represented in the squad with Macquarie’s Luke Gale, who made his Group 11 first grade debut last season, singled out by Greenhalgh as a leader.
Jai Merritt, Blaine Gordon, Bayden Searle, Jack Davis, Jackson Bonham-Phair and Kaiden Hopkins are some of the other Dubbo-based players named while St John’s playmaker Matt Burton will line up at five-eighth after starring in the under-16s last season.
“Luke (Gale) had a bit of a slow start with an injured foot but he trained last week at Parkes and was excellent,” Greenhalgh said.
“’Burto’ and others have been very impressive as younger age guys and I haven’t really seen much of them. I’ve got a few familiar faces but a lot of new ones so I’m looking forward to seeing how keen they are.”
To make the day even more special, three of Manly’s NRL players will be in attendance to delight fans and sign autographs.
The 18s match kicks off at 6.30pm at Caltex Park.
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
