With five players named in the side, the Griffith side, along with Tumut, is the second best represented with Apimeleki Kaloudonu, Chris Latu, Dan McGreal, Ewan Morriss and Saione Ahomana set to carry the flag.

The 29-strong squad was revealed on Monday and forwards coach Nick McCarthy expects the team to bring plenty of speed to the clash at Conolly Rugby Complex.

He’s excited by the final selections.

“You have got to have those changes in personnel every few years, and we think it is a great year to blood some young players,” McCarthy said.

“In the initial squad, we picked there were only 11 players who backed up from last season.

“It is always great when you get a large group of players, and I believe there were near 40 nominations.

“For us to be able to select a good group of up and coming kids to blend with some of those experienced footballers it should see us be able to develop the rep program in the zone even more.” 

Blacks coach Craig Morriss said it was great to see his boys selected in the representative side.

“It is good to see the young blokes getting a go,” he said.

“They have been playing consistently all season, and it will be good for the club.

“The guys will get to go to the next level where it is a bit more serious and some better coaching.”

Back at club level, for the Blacks, it is approaching the point of no return, and Morriss knows his side need to pick up as many points as possible.

“It is non-negotiable this weekend,” he said.

“It will be getting too far away from us to make finals if we don’t start picking up points.

“We need to be picking up all points at home, and that will be a start.”

The Blacks will be buoyed by their performance against the Waratahs last weekend, and Morriss said the impact was obvious on the club as a whole.

“Everyone has pulled up really positively,” he said.

“We gave the Waratahs a good scare there at the end, and we had a couple of players out so we might have been able to push them a bit harder if they were around.

“Everything has been positive, so we just need to turn that into points.”

The Blacks will still be missing Dan Bozic and Kieran McNabb, but Morriss is hopeful they will return in the coming weeks.

The Griffith side will play their second home game in as many weeks when Wagga City come to Exies Oval on Saturday afternoon.

In their meeting earlier in the season the Blacks came away with a Blacks 45-29 win in Wagga.