ORANGE CYMS’ trio of Group 10 representatives will back up in tomorrow’s road trip to Oberon, substantially bolstering a somewhat new-look green and gold line-up.
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Tim Bassmann, Ben McAlpine and Kyran Bubb will all don Group 10 jerseys at today’s Western Division representative cluster, before making the tough trip to frosty Oberon to take on the Tigers.
Tim Mortimer, who had been playing lock, makes a difficult shift into halfback in place of Sullivan who remains several weeks away from a return after tearing his hamstring in the opening round’s local derby against Orange Hawks.
Mortimer’s younger brother Robbie started round one in the centres before shifting into the halves when Sullivan was hurt, but will move to the wing for tomorrow’s clash, while Jerome Harrison shifts into the centres.
“I spoke to Robbie at the start of the year, and told him he would probably have to fill different roles with his versatility,” Sullivan explained.
“Sometimes being versatile can be a bit of a downfall in that you don’t have a real niche position. But I know Robbie will do a really good job in that role, and he is a strong ball runner so he’ll be fine on the wing.
“As for Timmy at halfback, he’s played there a bit before, and will do a good job.”
Sullivan’s troops thrashed Hawks 43-10, but have had two weeks off in the meantime thanks to a round two bye, and a washed out clash with Lithgow Workies.
The Tigers on the other hand, remain winless after two losses and a bye.
“I won’t be writing home with that (win over Hawks), Blayney put a similar score on them the week after,” Sullivan said.
“We weren’t completing as well as I would’ve liked against Hawks, I’d like to get up around 80 per cent which I think is very achievable.
“If we hold the ball a bit more and do that, I think we’ll be able to beat most teams.
“Hopefully it’s not too cold out (in Oberon) at this time of year, I think there is some rain around though.
“Oberon have been competitive, maybe not getting the results, but there or thereabouts in the first couple of rounds so they will be tough.
“You have to go in with the right frame of mind, because if you don’t Oberon can make it very tough for you out there.”
CYMS and Oberon kick off 2.30pm tomorrow at Oberon Sports Ground.
ORANGE CYMS: 1 Tim Bassmann, 2 Robbie Mortimer, 3 Jerome Harrison, 4 Ben McAlpine, 5 Wayne Collett, 6 Matt Rose, 7 Tim Mortimer, 8 Cam Jones, 9 Sam Hill, 10 Logan Pocklington, 11 Simon Osborne, 12 Riley Law, 13 Kyran Bubb, 14 Trent Rose.