New Orange City coach Viv Paasi has named his leadership duo in Josh Tremain and Cam Cole, two guns he's hoping will lead his Lions back to the Blowes Clothing Cup pride lands after a lowly 2018 season in which the side tasted victory just once.
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Tremain is widely-regarded as the Lions' heart and soul and has been for a number of years, while Cole returned to Pride Park for the first time since 2016, having played the past two seasons with the Blayney Rams.
The Lions were glaringly lacking in experience last season so Cole's return is a massive coup for the side, which kicks off its 2019 rebuild by hosting last year's beaten preliminary finalists in the Cowra Eagles on Saturday afternoon.
"It's been good so far, I made the decision to go all in with it about a month ago and obviously I've still got a lot of mates up there, so I'm looking forward to getting into it," Cole said.
I've still got a lot of mates up there, so I'm looking forward to getting into it.
- Orange City co-captain Cam Cole, on his return to Pride Park
The Lions finished fifth the last time Cole donned the fabled orange and green, they were beaten by Bathurst Bulldogs in the elimination semi-final, and said he's well-aware he and Tremain's job will be a challenge considering the circumstances.
Fortunately, he said, Paasi is at the helm and has already ensured the Lions have taken plenty of steps in the right direction.
"It'll be a different experience for sure, but we've been taking steps in the right direction during the pre-season and we'll get a fair look at where we're at on the weekend, we'll just have to see where we go with it," Cole said.
"Viv's probably one of the better coaches, if not the best, I've been involved with. Just his approach to the game and training and being able to get everyone on board, he's been great.
"That buy in is really important for us. We've got pretty much a whole new side and coming together as a group will be really important. I know it's cliche to say we're only focusing on ourselves but we really do have to because we know every game's going to be tough for us, especially coming off last season.
"It might take a bit of time but hopefully we can come together, play some really good rugby and get a few wins under our belt in [the first half of the season]."
While the Lions have welcomed a number of new and returning players into the fold - think the likes of Duncan Young, Tatafu Na'anuimotu and Keegan Harding - but there is one name that immediately jumps from Orange City's round one team list - Lachie Blunt.
Blunt, of the famous Orange City family, has returned to Orange from Sydney recently and re-linked with his junior club, last playing in the Central West with CSU Bathurst.
He was constantly one of the students biggest threat and along with being another experienced head, he'll add some serious starch to the Lions' backline having being named at inside centre.
"He's already had a really positive impact, we're really hoping he'll lead the way for the rest of the boys. He's pretty excited to be back, so we're looking forward to seeing what he can do," Cole said.
Kick-off in the Lions' season-opener is at 3.15pm on Saturday at Pride Park, and the opening round coincides with the club's Ladies' Day. The Lions are wearing purple socks and will be raising money for Relay For Life, along with unveiling their new scoreboard, in memory of Jordan Cheney.
The Lions' colts will actually start their season on Friday night against the returning Dubbo Rhinos, at Pride Park from 8pm.
- ORANGE CITY LIONS: 1 Cal Townsend, 2 Nick Fisher, 3 Josh Tremain (c), 4 Tom Boog, 5 Nathan Warner, 6 Jake Johnston, 7 Duncan Young, 8 Tatafu Na'anuimotu, 9 Tom Nell, 10 Cam Cole, 11 Barton Young, 12 Harry Taberner, 13 Lachie Blunt, 14 Tom Westcott, 15 Keegan Harding
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
