Maas to lead CYMS in ‘07

From a large number of possible candidates, including 2006 captain-coach Luke Jenkins, Tim Ryan and Justin Yeo, new coach Dean Pay hand picked Maas, who has spent the past season and a half away from the sport, as his captain.

Pay already has an affiliation with the 26-year-old, having trained with him at Parramatta Eels during the 1998-99 seasons.

During this time Maas played an integral part in two reserve grade premierships for the Eels before later being likened to Les Davidson by Sydney journalist Steve Mascord during his short, five-game first grade career at Souths in 2002.

Coinciding with Pay’s appointment at CYMS, Maas joins a large contingent of players, including Tim Ryan, Ryan Drew, Josh Large and Simon Yeo, who are returning to the club and eager for a repeat of the four first grade premierships that the club won from 2001 to 2004.

“I missed playing the game last year,” the owner of Maas Contracting said.

“We’ve been flat out expanding the business and now that we have a few more office staff it has spared up a bit of time.”

CYMS have been busy preparing for their first trial match of the year against Orange CYMS on February 18 as the curtain raiser to the Cronulla Sharks versus Parramatta Eels preseason game at Pioneer Oval in Parkes on February 17.

The training sessions at South Dubbo Oval on Wednesday and Friday evenings have been met with plenty of enthusiasm, according to Maas.

“It’s real good to have an actual coach with heaps of experience and everyone is real keen,” he said.

“Everyone is turning up and it’s good not to be fighting an uphill battle.

“The captaincy has put the pressure on me to commit for the season and have a go.

“But while I’m the captain on the team sheet, with the calibre of players that we have, Bernard Wilson coming off the bench and Pay on the sidelines, the team basically runs itself.

“If everyone keeps their head on and keeps training the way we are then I can’t see why we can’t improve on last year.”

Club president Kevin Walkom is also pleased with the early response and the decision to assign Maas the captaincy.

He is confident his side won’t be the first team to be eliminated in the finals again after finishing fifth last season.

“We’ve been getting in excess of 50 players to training - and quality players too,” Walkom said.

“There’s a certain vibe and mateship and everyone is looking forward to the season.

“Wes’ commitment to training has been 110 per cent and he has been throwing in a couple of extra days during the week.

“As well as Wes being first grade captain, Justin Yeo and Luke Jenkins have been named club captains to oversee and communicate the players as their representatives.”