RUGBY UNION
ORANGE Emus began the 2016 Blowes Clothing Cup season in style on the field, but their campaign has taken a hit off it after speedster Carter Hirini agreed to terms with Group 10 club Blayney.
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Arguably the Blowes Clothing Cup’s fastest player, Hirini will make his debut for the Bears at King George Oval on Sunday, a move that will spell the end of his immediate playing future at Endeavour Oval.
Emus co-coach Andrew Logan said the club and Hirini part on good terms.
“We wish Carter all the best with his move to rugby league,” he said.
“Without trying to downplay the loss too much, we won a fair amount of games without Carter last year while he was injured. Players come and go, and this year we’ve got a bunch of talented players who’ve come to the club.
“There’s an opportunity for those players now.”
Bears president Adam Hornby said the addition of the New Zealand national would help alleviate the club’s outside backs void.
“We spoke to Carter after the Bathurst Knockout. Things have been on hold since then for obvious reasons, but we’re thrilled he’s come on board,” Hornby said.
Emus take on Narromine in their first home game of the season on Saturday, with Eion Scullion tipped to make his first grade run-on debut for the hosts against first round surprise packets the Gorillas.
Rumoured to be on the brink of asking for a return to the Graincrop Cup in the lead-up to round one, Narromine trumped Cowra in all three grades at Cale Oval.
The stunning upset of the Eagles has greens co-coach Paul Ringland on his toes.
“It’s a bit of a wake-up call for us,” Ringland said, his side 36-14 winners over Bathurst in round one.
“It’s pleasing to see Narromine turn out in all three grades, but it also shows we’re going to have to turn up ready to play every week as well.”
Scullion’s injection is just one of two changes to the Emus first XV for Saturday’s first home game of the season, with Nigel Staniforth moving to fullback to help accommodate hard-hitting centre Simon Badgery.
Kick-off is at 3.15pm.
ORANGE EMUS: 1 Nas Havealeta, 2 Tom Goolagong, 3 Steve Fergus, 4 Nick Hughes-Clapp, 5 Sam McLean, 6 Andrew Cosgrove, 7 Josh Ellice-Flint, 8 Scott McLean, 9 Eion Scullion, 10 Todd Freedman, 11 Tom Green, 12 Simon Badgery, 13 Lachlan Harris, 14 AJ Sykes, 15 Nigel Staniforth.
