CENTRAL West Blue Bulls coach Mick Gray has thrown trial form out the window to name a 26-man squad he says will challenge at the Country Championships in Lismore.
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Eight Orange players - five from Orange City and three from Emus - have been named in the squad to be captained by the Lions’ Josh Tremain.
Blue Bulls head coach Mick Gray believes he has found the right mix, despite a far-from-ideal preparation.
“(Morale) is pretty good. We haven’t had our strongest combination of players possible all at once yet and I know most people might see that as an excuse - but it’s the way it’s been,” Gray said.
In their two trials, the Blue Bulls lost 45-12 against the Canberra Royals and then backed it up against another Canberra outfit with a 48-27 defeat against the Vikings.
Last week’s scheduled trial match against Penrith was abandoned after the Central West squad had insufficient numbers.
Instead a 19-man squad took part in the Orange City 10s.
And there the unthinkable happened.
The Blue Bulls lost 17-10 to club side Orange Emus, who were minus a host of regulars themselves.
They did, however, win their other two matches 24-17 and 24-0 over the Rhinos All Blacks and Orange City (2) respectively and took out the plate final with a 57-17 win over the All Blacks.
Gray said he was prepared for the nay-sayers to criticise his team’s preparation.
“Emus, to be fair, had probably half of Kinross’ starting XV from last year and with uncontested scrums it was always going to be tough. Read into it what you will but I think we showed we can play some good footy there in our last game,” he said.
Nine players who contested in last year’s Blowes Menswear Cup grand final between Bathurst Bulldogs and Narromine have made the cut, while minnows Parkes and Cowra along with strong Dubbo club Roos have one representative each.
CSU Bathurst is the only other team with multiple Blue Bulls caps with five.
Country Cockatoo Tom Hollis, who will line-up for the Bulldogs in 2011, has also made the 26-man Central West squad.
The Blue Bulls take on Western Plains this Saturday.
It’s a must-win match if the Central West want to contest this year’s Caldwell Cup at the Country Championships.
Gray said his side knew the importance of Saturday’s match.
“There is no excuse for us not to play well on Saturday. We have had a couple of hiccups along the way but I’d rather lose the trials and go well at the championships than have it the other way around,” he said.
“There is no hiding after this week. We know now the result affects where we play from here.
“If we lose on Saturday it’s because Western Pains are a better side than us. But if you look at our squad, we have a lot of quality players there.”
Gray will name a first XV after a training run on Wednesday night, with a number of players yet to prove their fitness.
The Blue Bulls take on Western Plains in Warren on Saturday.
❏ CENTRAL WEST BLUE BULLS SQUAD: Bart Bogart (Bathurst Bulldogs), Ben Bright (Orange Emus), Luke Brown (Narromine), Hiram Brooke (CSU Bathurst), Dan Cullinane (Bathurst Bulldogs), John Ellis (Orange Emus), Scott Francis (Dubbo Roos), Peter Friend (Orange City), John Gander (Orange City), Michael Garvey (Cowra), Luke Harding (Narromine), Tom Hollis (Bathurst Bulldogs), Nick Hughes-Clapp (CSU Bathurst), Scott Johnston (Bathurst Bulldogs), Dom Longhurst (CSU Bathurst), Daniel Muldoon (Orange City), Lachie McCutcheon (Narromine), Ben Mills (Orange City), John Palmer (CSU Bathurst), Chris Plunkett (Bathurst Bulldogs), John Rathbone (Parkes), Andrew Selwood (Orange Emus), Will Stuart (CSU Bathurst), Hayden Tidswell (Bathurst Bulldogs), Josh Tremain (c - Orange City), Alex Weal (Bathurst Bulldogs).
