Saints players Benjamin John, Joe Batchelor, Luke Newsome and Garry Reilly will all be part of the group, along with cross-town counterparts Brent Seager and Luke Carpenter.

None of the selections are a big surprise, although English-man Batchelor has only had one chance to make an impact in the competition proper, his debut for the Saints coming in Sunday’s round two win over Oberon.

He was also part of the Saints’ winning Bathurst Knockout side.

It’s been a big 12 months for his fellow import Newsome since he arrived at the Bathurst club. He represented Group 10 and Western Division last year, as well as playing for Pat’s in their winning grand final.

He then went on to train with South Sydney as part of their under 20s development program, but didn’t get picked up in their full squad, allowing him to return to the blue and white jersey for 2015.

“I got a lot out of that time with South Sydney. I trained with them for a couple of months up until the new year,” he said.

“They were very professional, as you’d expect, and I got a lot out of it. Having two months of training under the belt has given me a bit of a head start for this season, too.”

Newsome helped his side make it to the premier league decider last season and looked set to have a big impact in the game against Cowra before leaving the field with an injury 10 minutes in that forced him out of the game altogether.

The towering forward will vie for a front-row position with the likes of Seager, Lithgow’s Chris Rhodes, Mudgee’s Jack Afamasaga and controversial Orange Hawks selection Mitch Davis, as well as the Group 11 forwards.

Davis is yet to pull on a Hawks jersey and his naming in the squad attracted criticism from Blayney president Adam Hornby.

Both Terawhiti Cooper and Will Ingram have been outstanding in the Bears’ 2-0 start to the season and can consider themselves hard done by to miss out.

Even so, Newsome is up against some quality in his position but has the versatility to move into a second-row role.

“I played for Group 10 and Western last year. I would definitely like to be there again if it is possible,” he said.

“It is great to have the other three Pat’s boys there. Seeing Joe Batchelor settling in as well as he has is great. He has the talent to cut it at that level, having played academy football back home.

“I’m not thinking too much about the other guys in the squad who are going for a front-row spot. 

“All I can do is just stay on my game, get everything spot-on and do the one-percenters as well as I can to make sure I give myself the best chance possible.

“Regarding the Mitch Davis selection, it is the first I’ve heard of it, so I can’t really comment one way or the other.”

The Group 10 squad began training last night at Carrington Park and the group is set to be trimmed from 24 to 18 this Sunday ahead of another training session next week.

They will play against a Castlereagh Cup team at the Western cluster in Dubbo next month in a 40-minute contest before a 60-minute game against Group 11 to decide the final make-up of the Rams squad.

GROUP 10 SQUAD: Terry Brown, Dane Howarth, Josh Rainbow (Blayney), Ron Lawrence, Blake Tidswell, Jack Nobes (Cowra), Tim Bassmann, Kyran Bubb, Ben McAlpine (Orange CYMS), Cody Robbins, Mitch Davis (Orange Hawks), Kirk Roberts (Oberon), Luke Carpenter, Brent Seager (Bathurst Panthers), Demetrius Anu, Jack Afamasaga, Tom Lewsley, Corin Smith (Mudgee), Joe Batchelor, Benjamin John, Luke Newsome, Gary Reilly (Bathurst St Pat’s), Joel O’Brien, Chris Rhodes (Lithgow Workies).