Brad Fearnley set to make his Newtown Jets debut in NSW Cup opening round

Fearnley will line up for the Newtown Jets in this Saturday's opening round game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Henson Park as a starting second rower.

The Bathurst talent joined Newtown this season as it was an opportunity for him and his brother Adam to have a year of football together at the same club.

Adam comes across to the Jets after a NSW Cup season with the Blacktown Sea Eagles.

Brad Fearnley will have wait until at least the second round until gained match time with his brother, as Adam wasn't named in the 17 for the opener, but he's enjoyed the time back together.

"I had a rib injury so I didn't get the chance to play any trial footy with Ads," he said.

"It's been a good couple of weeks since I've come back, so it's been great being able to train with him again.

"It's so cool to have this chance [to play together]. It's something that we planned out before this year because it's something that we thought we might not have the chance to do again."

The pre-season might have been hampered by his injury but prior to that Fearnley had the exciting opportunity to have a run with the Cronulla Sharks' first grade side.

Newtown acts as the NSW Cup feeder side for the Sharks.

He's enjoyed seeing the inner workings of both clubs in the lead up to the 2023 campaign.

"Personally, I feel really good about my start to the year. I picked up that injury, which set me back a little bit, but I think the work that both myself and Adam have put in at the start of this year and the end of last year has set us up for a good start," he said.

"Cronulla are obviously a club on the up. They're ready for a big year over there. Doing a pre-season over there, and having done the same at Penrith, you can see the similarities - they both work hard, it's very consistent day-to-day with what you do.

"It's great for Cronulla to have the sand dunes, and they can always get a tough session in on those, but they're also good in the sense that they understand when blokes need to rest.

"Newtown are a very historical club, who like to bring older players into the club to share their experience. We'll be doing training sessions at Henson Park and there will be a lot of supporters down there. That's been so cool to see their own supporter base there."

Knowing that strong performances with the Jets can lead to a potential NRL start down the line acts as a great motivator for Fearnley going into this season.

"I signed on for a 14-week pre-season with the NRL squad ... and now I'm on a sort of on-call basis, where if I'm playing well enough in NSW Cup I can get that call up into that first grade system again," he said.

"I've touched base with Fitzy [Craig Fitzgibbon], the head coach, who said to me that when I go back to Newtown I need to be one of the best players there if I'm to ever get that call up."

The Fearnley brothers join the ranks of a talented Jets side that finished the 2022 season as minor premiers and dropped just four matches prior to their preliminary final defeat.

Newtown won both of their trial matches against Blacktown and Canterbury Bankstown leading into this opening round.

The match gets underway from 3pm.

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