Saturday’s Indigenous v All Star rugby league clash will be one of the best of the season.
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Group 16 All Stars coach Ryan Apps said he had “a good bunch of boys” ready for the contest and they were all switched on for looming trials for the Monaro Under 23s squad.
“They’re all committed and looking to play some good footy; you’ve got two strong sides coming together this weekend and the boys have got to turn up and play some good footy,” Apps said.
For the under 23s outfits, this weekend is a prelude to selection trials on March 17 against Group 8.
“They need the right mentality because when we play Canberra they’re up for selection in the Monaro side,” Apps said.
The Monaro team won the country championships last year and eight players went on to further pathways or were picked up for top level rep duties.
The downside, Apps says, is that he can’t play reps anymore, but supports the under 23s pathway.
“It’s a better gateway and a stronger concept – I support anything to further the skill base in footy, even if it means players do move away, because there is a fair chance those boys will come home.
“Hopefully they can go away and learn a lot then come back and share those skills at a club level in leadership roles.”
Apps was tight-lipped about singling out any of his players, but has a star-studded line-up of some of the Group’s best rising talent, to the array of quicks such as Kyle Shepherdson, Joel Grewar and Scott Galeano, to clever outside players Zac Cuzner, Joel Tamatea and Blake Schafer.
There are also formidable front line troops in Sean Cornell, Luc Ingram and Luke Dowdle.
With rep places on the line, Apps knows it will be no easy task, as Batemans Bay coach Mason Harrison has the Indigenous All Stars ready for a strong clash.
The brother duo of James and Declan Bower-Scott, some of the Bay quicks such as Albert Murray and Tremayne Chatfield, as well some devastating big men from Cooma and Moruya, are ones to watch.
“This will be a great game and a stepping stone for an excellent season,” Apps said.
The rep coach is also excited about the fourth installment of the women’s contact feature.
“Women’s sport, especially in rugby league, is growing in leaps and bounds,” he said.
“I’m a big advocate for tackle and, the more they step into it, I think we’ll see it grow and one day have a tackle comp down here.”
He said tag had its own injury concerns – players jarring their hands on tag attempts – and full contact could be safer to play in a controlled atmosphere.
An under 18s round-robin 9s tournament will round out the fixture on Saturday starting at Narooma’s Bill Smyth Memorial Oval from 10.45am.