Much like the often-torrid trip NRL clubs face when they head to Canberra to face the Raiders, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in Group 10 that enjoys trekking to Oberon to face the Tigers, particularly once the icy weather sets in mid-season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Orange CYMS captain-coach Dom Maley is pretty pleased to be able to get the less-than-appealing trip out of the way so early in the season too, with his side landing at Oberon Sportsground for Sunday's third round of the premier league season.
The green and golds will receive a couple of welcome boosts too, with premiership winners Ryan Griffin and Tim Mortimer returning to the starting side after missing the opening two rounds of 2019.
He's obviously had the first two games off and we would've given him as long as he needed, but it's good to have him back this early.
- CYMS captain-coach Dom Maley, on Tim Mortimer
Griffin was unavailable for the opening fortnight while Mortimer was recovering from a pre-season head knock, the duo to start at hooker and lock on Sunday respectively.
"It is a good to have them back, they'll give us a big boost," Maley said, adding how good a job their stand-ins had done.
"Rabsy (Griffin) is just a really great hooker, he's a serious attacking threat so hopefully he'll be able to help us put a few more points on the board.
"We all know how good Timmy is through the middle. He's obviously had the first two games off and we would've given him as long as he needed, but it's good to have him back this early.
"We'll obviously monitor him pretty closely and work his minutes around his fitness, but he'll give us a lot through that middle channel, and hopefully he can come through unscathed."
"It's always a pretty tough trip to Oberon and we know there'll be even tougher games coming up as well.
"With three home games in a row after this one ... there could be a few sides on six points after this round so we'd like to stay in touch with them before that run of home games."
Maley said CYMS took "a step in the right direction" in their win 44-16 win over Blayney last weekend, but naturally an Oberon side led by former NRL prop Josh Starling will be a much tougher task than the battling Bears.
"There's still a lot we can improve on but we take plenty of confidence from that win," Maley said.
"In terms of Oberon, they're just a really good side so there's not any one focus against them really. Obviously with Josh Starling in the middle he'll get good go-forward for them, but you can't underestimate or neglect their edges.
"Someone like Jackson Brien, he was always dangerous in the centres and he'll probably be more so at fullback, popping up wherever he likes.
"So we just need to be good across the paddock."
CYMS face the Tigers at Oberon Sportsground, from 2pm, with league tag kicking the day off at 10.30am.
- ORANGE CYMS: 1 Lachie Munro, 2 Trav Adelerhof, 3 Ben McAlpine, 4 Josh Burke, 5 Jarred Tyack, 6 Steve Morris, 7 Luke Petrie, 8 Cam Jones, 9 Ryan Griffin, 10 Joseph Ualesi, 11 Chris Grevsmuhl, 12 Joey Duffy, 13 Tim Mortimer
- OBERON TIGERS: 1 Jackson Brien, 2 Tye Siakisoni, 3 Abel Lefaouseu, 4 Jayden Fagg, 5 Zane Rowlandson, 6 Farren Lamb, 7 Matt Ranse, 8 Luke Christie-Johnston, 9 Richie Peckham, 10 Josh Starling, 11 Jake Dawe, 12 Andy Adams, 13 Blake Fitzpatrick; Bench: 14 Blake Ryan, 15 Ty-Lee Simmonds, 16 Nick Booth
WANT MORE ORANGE AND REGIONAL SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...
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.
