FROM THE FRONT: CYMS skipper Ben Gosper leads his troops onto the field, as he will again tomorrow in Lithgow.
BEN Gosper only ever dreamed of captaining Orange CYMS.
What young boy doesn’t?
But with the likes of Mick Sullivan at the helm for the past two Group 10 premier league triumphs, and a host of other senior players in the green and gold ranks, leading CYMS out didn’t seem like a possibility in the foreseeable future.
Or so Gosper thought.
A mainstay at lock for the two-time defending premiers, Gosper was approached by Sullivan at the beginning of the 2012 season to become the new skipper of CYMS.
“I was excited more than anything,” Gosper said.
“It was a bit overwhelming, to think someone like Mick thinks I’m capable of captaining the side. I though being captain might be something I’d like to do but it’s probably all come a bit quicker than I expected.”
Now with tomorrow’s grand final set to be one of the biggest in Group 10’s history as CYMS go about the final chapter in their hunt to become the first side to claim a hat-trick of premier league titles in 41 years, Gosper is lapping up the moment.
“It’s exciting. Everyone is feeling alright. A few of the senior boys have played in all three now, I think there’s five or six of us, so it’s just another game for a few of the boys,” he said.
“It’ll be unreal if we can do it. A lot of blokes don’t win one so to win three would be amazing.”
Gosper admitted tomorrow’s clash with Lithgow Workies will be one of the toughest he will play in in his career.
It’s also the most important game he’ll skipper the side in.
“Probably the second biggest would be (the final of the) West Wyalong knockout last year. We lost that one so hopefully I can turn it around on Sunday,” he said.
The strong tackler said he liked to let his actions on the field set an example for his players, with a couple of the team’s senior players never short of a word of advice.
“Everyone is pretty good out there. We’ve got a lot of older guys who help out like Wok (Warick Colley), Epa (Navale) and Sarge (Brett Sargent), Patty Gibson is another,” he said.
“Everyone sort of chips in on the field.”