Western Rams under-16 coach Jamie Szczerbanik stuck strong to the squad which fell agonisingly short of claiming this year’s AAMI Country Championship, naming an unchanged group to take on the Federation of Italia Rugby League Australia at Bathurst’s Carrington Park next month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That sqaud includes five of Orange’s best and one of Blayney’s.
Orange CYMS quartet Nathan Swain, Josh Board, Tyrone Harrison and Lincoln Monk were all named, as was Bloomfield Tigers’ gun Zac Cook and Blayney Bears up-and-comer Joey Hobby.
The latter, in particular, is one player Szczerbanik highlighted as a potential game-breaker. It’s not surprising considering he was one of five Rams picked in the NSW Country squad.
More than anything, he said the group deserves another crack in the green and white of Western after their swashbuckling country championship campaign, which was derailed in the final by the Greater Northern Tigers.
He said the Italian game will provide the group an important stepping stone.
“We have a great bunch of boys in the squad,” Szczerbanik said.
“They deserve their positions because they where instrumental in the Country Championships.
“We don’t know too much about [Italy], but they would’ve played representative (football0 before, so we can expected them to be a classy outfit.
“It’s all about a once in a life opportunity to play a national team, so we want to go out there, play good footy and enjoy each others’ company.”
St Pat’s forward Luke Bain is the only Bathurst player picked in the squad, which also features three Dubbo players and individuals from Narromine, Forbes, Cowra, Condobolin, Coonabarabran and Wellington.
In the Country Championship final in May, the Rams conceded a last-minute try to suffer a 16-12 loss to the Greater Northern Tigers.