To say Orange Emus prop Cody Perrott is a big man is a gross understatement, in fact he's so sizable his clubmates have dubbed him 'The Mountain' after Game of Thrones' famed gigantor Gregor Clegane for goodness sake.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The firey powerlifter-come-bookend will prop up Emus' scrum in Saturday's Blowes Clothing Cup clash against Cowra too, he's been named to make his top flight debut after man-handling his way through the lower grades.
He comes into the side to form a new-look front-row with boom hooker Charlie Henley and premiership-winning tighthead Steve Fergus, regular props Matt Findlay (injured) and Michael Graham (unavailable) not on deck for Saturday's trip to Cowra to face the Eagles.
He's big, strong, loves a carry and has been playing really well in second grade.
- Emus skipper Nigel Staniforth, on debuting prop Cody Perrott
Tom Joseph is also unavailable for the trip to Cowra Rugby Ground, with Matt Campbell coming into the centres in his place.
The greens have found some continuity in recent weeks but skipper Nigel Staniforth said he has complete faith in the incoming trio.
"Ferg and Cambo have played plenty of first grade before and we know they'll slot in seamlessly. Cody's had a taste at different times this year and it's a really good opportunity for him, he'll get tested though," Staniforth said, with Perrott set to pack down against the equally-large Joe Dakuitoga, who earned NSW Country selection a fortnight ago.
"We're all pretty excited to see how he handles the step up. He's definitely still learning the ins and outs of playing prop but he's big, strong, loves a carry and has been playing really well in second grade."
The greens and Eagles come into the round 10 clash at opposite ends of the scale, results wise.
Emus scored a landmark win over competition leaders Bulldogs last weekend, handing the Bathurst side their first loss of 2019, while the injury-hit Eagles were hammered by the resurgent Dubbo Kangaroos.
"Their result against Roos was a bit surprising, in terms of the scoreline," Staniforth said.
"Dubbo are a good side and all year they've not been far away from the mark but I'm not sure anyone would've expected them to put 50 on Cowra.
"They'll be motivated to redeem themselves I think after that so it'll be tough, we'll just have to focus on continuing to build to where we want to be."
Emus went close to hitting that mark last weekend in their 26-24 triumph over Bulldogs, but Staniforth still said there's room for improvement.
"We're getting there, but we still waited a little bit early on in that game against Bulldogs and let the game come to us a bit," he said.
"So we just need to focus on getting out of the blocks a little bit quicker I think."
Emus went down in their round three trip to Cowra earlier in the year, they head there again after the clash was moved due to a draw shift which allowed the greens to play Orange City when the Intrust Super Shute Shield rolled into the city.
Saturday's blockbuster second-versus-third, round 10 clash kicks off at 3.15pm.
- ORANGE EMUS: 1 Cody Perrott, 2 Charlie Henley, 3 Steve Fergus, 4 Sam McLean, 5 Nick Hughes-Clapp, 6 Simon Badgery, 7 Sam Greatbatch, 8 Scott McLean, 9 TJ Cunynghame, 10 Jamil Khalfan, 11 Tom Green, 12 Matt Campbell, 13 Lachie Harris, 14 Harry Cummins, 15 Nigel Staniforth (c)
WANT MORE ORANGE AND REGIONAL SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...