Much of 2019 has felt like a homecoming for Fletcher Rose.
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The Orange City junior has returned to the club after spending his school years decked out in a Kinross two blues jersey, making his Blowes Clothing Cup debut in the Lions' 33-27 loss to Dubbo in round three and not looking back since then.
And despite the side's on-field woes, boy is he enjoying his return.
In the words of the 19-year-old, "I've absolutely loved every minute of it".
It's an absolute privilege to play for Orange City and pull on the jumper.
- Orange City flanker Fletcher Rose
Rose has slotted straight into the No.7 jersey for the club and had embraced the change from what he was used to at the schoolboy level.
"I'm usually a loose forward but it's been good experience being a flanker, I haven't played at number seven a lot and it's a bit different but I'm learning a lot," he said.
"Hopefully the boys think I'm doing a good enough job."
The transition between Kinross and the Lions has been barely a blip on the radar for Rose, who said the player welfare and care offered to each member of the side was as high as each other.
"I haven't played for them since under 13s or 14s but it's like I never left," he said.
The flanker hasn't been fussed by the club's lack of success on the field, with the Lions yet to win a game in first grade and facing some massive losses in that time, including two in the past three weeks.
The side reestablished some control during last week's loss against Forbes, going down 19-8, but Rose has said off-field the club has been successful in building culture and developing an environment blokes want to turn up to.
While Rose wasn't at the club last year, he said coaching staff and the facilities at Waratahs were all coming together to make the club somewhere he wanted to be - with a large portion of that coming down to new coach Viv Paasi taking the reins at the start of the year.
He's got so much knowledge he passes on and is making sure the senior players have more interaction with juniors.
- Fletcher Rose talking about Viv Paasi
"He's got so much knowledge he passes on and is making sure the senior players have more interaction with juniors," Rose said.
"It's a place you really want to be around, we're building and we're looking to be a really successful club in the next few years.
"As a group the senior players are really looking for the junior players and taking them under their wing."
Rose trotted out a few cliches while talking about the club's season, but earnestly believes the club is giving "110 per cent".
"We've worked our arses off, we haven't had the results we've wanted just yet but we're going hard and building for the future," he said.
"It's an absolute privilege to play for Orange City and pull on the jumper."
The club takes on Roos again this weekend, the Dubbo sides lands at Pride Park, beginning at 3.15pm.
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