Not even a week after the grand final and the Group 20 representative under 23s side will be taking to the field when they take on their Group Nine counterparts at Solar Mad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
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It has been at times difficult, but coach Chris Hanneman said the side was coming together well.
“I think things are looking pretty promising,” he said.
“It was a bit hard in recent weeks to get all the players together with Waratahs and Yenda players not wanting to risk injuries in the lead up to the grand final.”
While the Group 20 season wrapped up last weekend, Group Nine grand final was played two weeks ago so will head into the game off the back of a break without any competitive games.
Hanneman feels it could be a bit of a double-edged sword.
“I think it could be a bit of an advantage for us in terms of fitness levels,” he said.
“On the other hand, our boys might have a few knocks from the finals. Two weeks off at this time of the season probably isn’t a bad thing really.”
The core of the side is made up of players from the Waratahs premiership winning side with eight players coming from the Tigers and Hanneman can see the advantage that may provide.
“I think it will give us a fair bit of an advantage especially if they are out on the same edge,” he said.
“A lot of the younger guys have played with each other before in the Group 20 representative side earlier in the season.
“They all came up at the same time, so they are pretty familiar with each other.”
The under 23 game will get underway following the ladies league tag at around 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Under 23s side
James Girdler (Waratahs), Ben Tamanisave (Waratahs), Ben Vearing (Waratahs), William Levu (Waratahs), Mitchell Monaghan (Waratahs), Aistan Fidow (Waratahs), Benji Maiva (Waratahs), Billy Maiva (Waratahs), Toby Crighton (Hay), Sam Barnes (Hay), Dylan Lund (Hay), Jai Lyons (DPC), Jack Kelly (DPC), Jesse Forrester (DPC), Dylan Trembath (DPC), Billy Kelly (DPC), Joshua Lavemai (Yenda), Isaiah Potts (Yenda), Kirtis Fisher (Leeton), Elwyn Ravu (Leeton), Josh Higgins (Yanco)
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Liam Warren
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
As someone with an underlying passion about sport it is a privilege to report on the sporting landscape around the MIA
