RUGBY LEAGUE
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IT has been four years since the Bathurst Panthers have made the final of their own pre-season tournament and even longer since they have tasted success, but that could change in 2014.
This weekend the Panthers will field a side at close to full strength at the Panthers Rugby League Knockout – a side which has a good mix of both young talent and experienced, proven performers.
There was a time when Panthers dominated this annual fixture, winning four knockout crowns in a row from 2004-2007. But since downing Hawks 23-6 in the last decider of that run, the men in black have struggled in the pre-season tournament.
They did make the final in 2010 when losing to St Pat’s 16-0, but other than that it has been their Group 10 rivals who have enjoyed a much better record.
Though season proper means a lot more than any pre-season tournament, the Panthers are keen to do well on home soil at Carrington Park.
The hosts begin their latest title push tomorrow when they play the winner of tonight’s game between Lithgow Workies and Cowra.
Though they are a little undersized in the front row, the majority of their new recruits will be in action. Coach John Fearnley now has the task of trying to balance the desire to win with the need to ensure all his players get game time.
“It is a tough question sometimes. We’ve made a call with Joey Bugg to play him in the reserves simply because he’s coming back from injury and hasn’t had much of a pre-season so far,” the coach explained.
“Rather than just bringing him off the bench for five minutes in first grade, we thought he’d benefit from getting full games under his belt in the lower grade.
“You do want to try and make sure everyone can get some time on the field, after all it’s a pre-season competition, but you still want to win, so it can be a fine line.”
While veteran centre William ‘Bubba’ Kennedy and experienced pivot Matt Rose give the team some real maturity, there is a distinctly youthful flavour to the team.
Outside of that pair and props Mike Wicks and Pat McGarry, the majority of the team is 22 or younger.
They will be captained by returning hooker Luke Carpenter in his first major hit-out since a season ending jaw injury early in 2013, while under 18s graduate Matt Woolmington will start alongside Rose in the halves.
Ex-Gundagai half Blake Dean will start from the bench.
A talented but young back row of Mick Ingwersen, Jake Betts and Blake Lawson is so strong that even returning Holden Cup star Blake Seager will be forced to come from the bench.
Orange CYMS recruit Cody Robbins will line up at fullback.
“We’re not a real big side, but we do have plenty of speed,” Fearnley said.
“Brent Seager is unavailable at least for the first match and Trent Rose is away on holidays. Pat McGarry played quite well against Gooloogong in a trial last week and Wicksy has a lot of experience and has shown he can handle it.
“Josh Small and Mitch Davis give us a lot of speed out wide too. I think we have a really good mix for this game.”
While Fearnley is unfussed as to who his team will play tomorrow, he is clear regarding what he wants to see from his players after such a frustrating year in 2013.
“The biggest thing is just to see them playing with some effort,” he said.
“Outside of that, I want us to control that ball. We let some soft tries in at times last season, yet for major parts of most games we controlled things.
“What often happened though was that we’d start to make mistakes, we’d let one try in and just about every time that happened, we’d let them score two.”
Panthers will play the winner from Lithgow and Cowra at 10.30am tomorrow.
BATHURST PANTHERS: 1 Cody Robbins, 2 Mitch Davis, 3 William Kennedy, 4 Chris Shephard, 5 Josh Small, 6 Matt Rose, 7 Matt Woolmington, 8 Mike Wicks, 9 Luke Carpenter (c), 10 Pat McGarry, 11 Blake Lawson, 12 Jake Betts, 13 Mick Ingwersen, 14 Blake Seager, 15 Blake Dean.