North West Bushrangers coach Andrew Collins is excited about the combined Central North-New England sides prospects at next month’s NSW Country Championships in Warren.
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Around 30 players attended Sunday’s trial at Barraba, with another handful unable to for various reasons.
But it wasn’t just the quantity that Collins was encouraged by but the quality.
“It’s exciting. It should be a strong team,” Collins said.
The Bushrangers will contest the Richardson Shield and will be a formidable outfit, with the likes of Conrad Starr, Doug Biffin and Collins in its ranks.
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Collins was assisted by Country Cockatoos coach Mat Thomas, NSW Country Rugby Executive Officer Stephen O’Brien and North West development manager Garry Walsh, and said there was a good representation of players from Central North and New England.
He has named a 26-man squad featuring a mix of players from both zones, several of which are new to the representative scene or returning,
They will convene for a training run at Pirates in a couple of weeks to bed down some of the more structural elements.
BUSHRANGERS SQUAD: Navi Tiko (Armidale Blues, New England) centre,Tyson Waters (Barbarians, New England) LH prop, Matthew Hubbard (Barbarians, New England) TH prop, Jared Mitchell (Barbarians, New England) hooker, Alan Sullivan (Barbarians, New England) centre, Rhys Graham (Barbarians, New England) backrow, Lachlan Mack (Barraba, Central North) lock, Oscar Hunt (Gunnedah, Central North) wing, Joe Hinchey (Gunnedah, Central North) five-eighth, Cooper Thompson (Tamworth, New England) fullback, William Morley (Narrabri, Central North) half-back, Toby Knight (Narrabri, Central North) fullback, Jake Hartmann (Pirates, Central North) fullback, Andrew Mepham (Pirates, Central North) centre, Tim Collins (Pirates, Central North) hooker, James Trappel (Pirates, Central North) half-back, Lewyn Rapana (Pirates, Central North) winger, Hayden Griffiths (Pirates, Central North) prop, Doug Biffin (Pirates, Central North) backrow, Conrad Starr (Pirates, Central North) backrow, Sam Collins (Pirates, Central North) backrow, Ben Goodman (Pirates, Central North) LH prop, Jack Shelton (Pirates, Central North) lock, Tom Grant (Quirindi, Central North) lock, Joseph Adams (Scone, Central North) outside centre. Andrew Collins captain-coach, Howie Webster trainer/strapper, Tom Azar assistant coach, Brodie Rigby assistant coach/manager.
