CENTRAL West had three players named in the NSW Country squad despite losing all three of their games at the under 18 Country Championship in Muswellbrook over the weekend.
Orange Emus flanker Andrew Selwood, Parkes’ Dan Ryan and Dubbo Kangaroos centre Tim Long made the 30-man squad, which will be coached by Bathurst’s Dave Conyers, while Orange City’s Duncan Young and James Dodd from ‘Roos made the shadow squad.
Central West lost their two games on Saturday, 21-10 to Far North Coast and 28-11 to Newcastle-Hunter, before dropping the fifth-place play-off to Illawarra 26-12 on Sunday.
Newcastle-Hunter went on to win the final 27-0 so it was a great effort for the Central West side, who had a far from ideal preparation, to at least score a try against the eventual champions.
“Two in the shadow and three in the Country squad is pretty good considering we finished sixth out of seven,” Conyers, who also mentored the Central West side said. “The boys played extremely well against Hunter who won it.”
Long played well at inside centre over the weekend but has been picked on the wing for the Country squad, which will come together for a two-day camp ahead of a trip to Melbourne on the June long weekend for matches against both Victoria and ACT.
As coach of the Country side Conyers believes he has a handy squad who should do well in Melbourne and on a trip to Argentina later in the year.
“We picked a squad of 30 players which I’m happy with,” he said.