The Central West colts squad is coming together and coach Dean Matthews expects to get a real idea of who to take to the Country Championships following this weekend’s trial against Manly.
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Matthews is one of four coaches, the others being Mark Stanford, Rob Bond and Jason Coyle, in charge of the Baby Bulls this season and it was Stanford who helped organise the trial, having made contacts during his time coaching in Sydney.
A trial against Sydney opposition has not been seen in recent history and Matthews is certain he’ll gain a lot from Saturday’s pre-season hit-out at Cumnock.
“We probably just want to see the combinations,” he said.
“How the nine and 10 work, and the 12 and 13, how the forwards work together for a unit and how the set pieces are.
“Hopefully the boys have all been doing their own (fitness) thing but the Sydney boys have been training together for a couple months and we’ve only been together three or four weeks so we’re expecting them to turn up to play.”
Matthews has been impressed with what he’s seen in the limited sessions he’s had with his squad.
Gathering players from the central west and from West Wyalong right through to Coonabarabran hasn’t been easy but a foundation has been placed.
“They’re a good bunch and there’s some very talented footballers,” he said, before joking about their priorities.
“It would be better if not as many were doing year 12 and could commit more but there’s some really handy footballers in the central west 20s competition.”
He added he and his fellow coaches have an idea of the squad they will take to the Championship, with a number of players already impressing.
Bathurst pair Isaiah Ackroyd and Felix Quinn have been standouts, according to Matthews, while Forbes brothers Simon and Josh Bailey have caught the eye, as has newcomer C.J Anastasia, who made the move from Warringah to Wellington during the off-season.
Fellow prop James McFarland was another singled out by the coach, who was keen to say there is “quite a few to pick from”.
Saturday will also give both squads the chance to bond, with Manly making a trip of it by having the city boys set camp and stay at a shearers’ quarters just outside Molong while both sides will gather for a barbecue after the game.
“It’s good for our blokes to see how they are,” Matthews said. “Manly are a semi-professional club and they’re excited too.”
The senior Central West side is also in action on Saturday, taking on the Canberra Royals at Cowra.