Western Rams under-18 coach Cameron Greenhalgh will be keeping a close eye on his players’ attitude during Saturday’s pre-season hit-out against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles’ SG Ball side at Dubbo’s Caltex Park.
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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 Sydney-based counterparts.
The Rams under-18 Green and under-18 White sides will both take to the field on Saturday and despite it being mid-January, Greenhalgh is already planning for the 2017 AAMI Regional Championship campaign.
“Their attitude this early in defence and attack,” Greenhalgh said, when asked what he was looking for in this match.
“If they’re keen then they’re obviously ready to play footy, not just there to go through the motions.
“They (Regional Championship) 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 Championship. 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.”
Orange and Blayney are well represented in the Rams’ squad, with Bloomfield’s Aiden Kelso and Blayney’s Joey Hobby to run out for the Green side. CYMS’ Nathan Swain and Cody Ramsey, and Blayney’s Nick Tilburg will play for the White side.
After this the squad will be cut back and then we’ve got one more trial before the squad is announced.
- Western coach Cameron Greenhalgh
Hobby will line-up at prop while Kelso is expected to run from the bench. Swain, graduating from Western’s under-16 side from last year, will lock the White side’s scrum while Ramsey will run on the wing. Tilburg will direct traffic after being named at half.
To make the day even more special, three of Manly’s NRL players will be in attendance to delight fans and sign autographs, but their names have been kept under wraps to maintain the surprise.
The 18s match kicks off at 6.30pm at Caltex Park.
WESTERN RAMS UNDER-18 GREEN: 1 Charlie Staines, 2 Farren Lamb, 3 Brock Naden, 4 Ty-Lee Simmons, 5 Tye Siakisoni, 6 Matt Burton, 7 Bayden Searle, 8 Joey Hobby, 9 Jayden Burke, 10 Jack Davis, 11 Ray Simmons, 12 Blake Frost, 13 Darby Medlyn, 14 Aiden Kelso, 15 Zane Rowlandson
WESTERN RAMS UNDER-18 WHITE: 1 Warren Baxter, 2 Zarin Galea, 3 Brock Naden, 4 Ty-Lee Simmons, 5 Cody Ramsey, 6 Jai Merritt, 7 Nick Tilburg, 8 Blaine Gordon, 9 Jackson Bonhem-Phair, 10 Hayden Raumiti, 11 Luke Gale, 12 Kaiden Hopkins, 13 Nathan Swain, 14 David White, 15 Daniel Stanley
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.
