Riverina Bulls coach Aaron Gorrell, along with his selection committee that includes assistant-coach Craig Morris and manager Bernie Delaney, have named a 27-man squad ahead of the 2023 Country Championships.
It’s a loaded outfit, with 2022 Group 9 Weissel Medallist Lachlan Bristow, 2022 Group 20 Ray Thorpe Medallist and Leeton’s premiership-winning captain/coach Hayden Philp, and 2022 Group 9 Grand Final hero and John Hill Medal winner Nathan Rose headlining the list of players.
Gorrell said the reason for an extended squad was to cater for unavailable players and to give Riverina their best shot of winning the 2023 Country Championships.
“Obviously we have named a few extras, but we are in it to give it a red-hot go,” Gorrell said.
“It’s a good list, and there are some players that might not be available for the first game, and we plan to be around for more than one game.”
Gorrell said performances in the 2022 Kelly Cup and the Group 9 and Group 20 competitions, along with representative track records in the Country Championships and other competitions, helped his selection committee come up with the extended squad.
“We looked at that game between Group 9 and Group 20 and took into account the blokes that were missing for the right reasons,” Gorrell said.
“We wanted to reward the blokes that turned up and performed, but in the end, we had to have a good look and see what the best available squad was, and I think we have come up with a really good list of players.”
Riverina will likely play a trial match against the Western Rams next month before officially kicking off the new-look 2023 Country Championships against the Monaro Colts on Sunday March 5 at Raiders Belconnen.
“We are looking to have a trial against Western on either February 11th or 18th, and we will leave no stone unturned,” Gorrell said.
“We will wait until we have the trial locked in, but training will revolve around that, and we will get the work done and hopefully be ready to give Monaro a good run for their money.”
A notable omission from the squad is former Riverina captain/coach and NSW Country hooker James Luff, who is weighing up his playing career with the Gundagai Tigers ahead of the 2023 Group 9 season.
With Luff out of the picture, Gorrell hasn’t decided who will step up as Riverina’s next captain.
“We haven’t named one as yet,” Gorrell said.
“There are a few blokes there that stick out, but we will wait until after a few training sessions.
“It’s a quality squad with lots of quality players and it’s a pretty important decision we need to make.”
Riverina will take a Group 9-heavy side into the Country Championships, with Philp set to be joined by Darlington Point-Coleambally pair Guy Thompson and Ben Jeffrey, meaning there will be only three Group 20 players.
Bulls manager Bernie Delaney said it came down to the quality of the competitions and Group 9’s one-sided 52-6 victory over Group 20 in the 2022 Kelly Cup.
“It’s mainly because of that trial,” Delaney said.
“We played them in the Kelly Cup and won convincingly, and that was after 14 of the original 21 pulled out of the Group 9 side.
“Some of them had never played first-grade before, so I think Group 9 deserve to have the most players.”
With the Country Championships reverting back to a knockout style tournament in 2023, Group 9 will only get one chance to knock off rivals Monaro, and Delaney is expecting a tough contest, with plenty of pride on the line.
“It is always tough against Monaro and it will be even harder playing in Canberra,” Delaney said.
“There is a fair bit of rivalry between Monaro and Riverina, and it will be a tough test first-up as neither side will want to be out after one game.”
Coincidently, former Monaro players and new recruits Tristan Eldridge (Gundagai), Noa Vanisi (Gundagai), and Atu Tupou (Young) will all turn out for Riverina despite not having played a game in the Group 9 competition.
Riverina squad: Hamish Starr (Temora), Jack Lyons (Gundagai), Tristan Eldridge (Gundagai), James Morgan (Brothers), Brayden Draber (Tumut), Jake Mascini (Kangaroos), Mitch Ivill (Tumut), Nathan Rose (Kangaroos), Kyle McCarthy (South City), Jordan Anderson (Tumut), Lachlan Bristow (Tumut), Hayden Lomax (Temora), Noa Vanisi (Gundagai), Zac Masters (Tumut), Josh Ayers (Young), Billy Reardon (Temora), Royce Tout (Gundagai), Michael Fenn (Tumut), Adam Pearce (Tumut), Atu Tupou (Young), Jacob Sturt (Tumut), Zac Starr (Temora), Jake Walker (Young), Luke Ingram (Kangaroos), Guy Thompson (Darlington Point-Coleambally), Hayden Philp (Leeton), Ben Jeffrey (Darlington Point-Coleambally).
