Dean Oxley makes no secret of his passion for the Blue Bulls – in fact it is that passion which will see him pull on a Central West jumper once again this Saturday.
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More than 20 years have passed since Oxley was a member of the Central West line-up which won the Caldwell Cup, but he has remained involved in a coaching capacity.
This year he coached the side to the decider against Illawarra and in March next year he will take a squad on a week-long tour of Christchurch.
It is raising money for that trip – as well as catching up with past Blue Bulls – which will see Oxley line up for the Central West Barbarians on Saturday in a match against the Classic Wallabies at Orange’s Endeavour Oval.
“It will be a nice gathering I suppose, it will be a little bit like a reunion for some of the old Central West players and I've coached a few of those guys who are playing in past Central West teams,” Oxley said.
“Matt Tink has done a good job co-coordinating it and making sure it's a fundraiser for our trip next year, the Central West Blue Bulls and the women are headed to New Zealand.
“It’s been a lot of years since Central West has gone on a trip overseas and I’m really glad something has got up. I’ve tried to organise something like this in the past and it hasn’t come to fruition … I’m really excited about it.”
Oxley’s Barbarians team-mates includes those who have also worn Bathurst Bulldogs colours – players like Mitch Lavelle, Jono Cody, Matt Waterford and former premiership winning skipper Paul Miller.
They will face a Classic Wallabies outfit skippered by Stephen Moore which boasts more than 380 Test caps and over 1,000 Super Rugby caps between them.
Oxley joked “it won’t be much of a contest if they go hard” and that “You’ll find that I’ll be on the wing and even wider. They can’t touch me in the grandstand.”
“It will be great and I think most people there will be people who have won the Caldwell Cup too. It’s not something that everybody can say they have achieved and certainly when I was involved in 1996, that’s a long time ago,” he said.
“We won the Caldwell Cup in Bathurst that year, it was really special as it’s a tough task to achieve.”
Kick-off on Saturday at Endeavour Oval is at 4pm.
- CENTRAL WEST BARBARIANS: Mark Daley, Craig Campbell, Josh Tremain, Andrew Webb, Scott Johnston, Mitch Lavelle, Danny Flannery, Stu Brisbane, Anthony Begg, Lachlan McCutcheon, Chris Plunkett, Shaun McHugh, Matt McGregor, Tim Berry, Lyndon Beneckes, Jono Cody, Nick Granger, Badan Annis Brown, Matt Waterford, James Brazier, Paul Miller, Adam Dwyer, Colin Kilby, Graeme Porch, James Grant, Simon Brabin, Justin Roberts, Dean Oxley, Phil Tonkin, Steve Roberts.
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