RUGBY LEAGUE
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GROUP 11 secretary Ross McDermott has questioned the Western Rams selection process after two Group 10 players were called into the squad for tomorrow's Country Championship match against the Greater Northern Tigers in Bathurst.
Dubbo Macquarie hooker Jeremy Smith and Blayney's Dane Howarth were forced to pull out of the original squad, which was selected after Group 11 defeated Group 10 at the Western Rams cluster day.
Despite Group 11 impressing during that 14-6 win, it wasn't enough to get more players called up. Rams coach Michael Sullivan named Blayney's Terawhiti Cooper and Tim Mortimer from Orange CYMS as his replacements in the final 17.
With Sullivan coaching Orange CYMS and not getting the chance to regularly see Group 11 football, McDermott felt there should have been more input from his committee and selectors in the process.
"It's extremely disappointing and something we want to talk to the Western Rams executives about," McDermott said.
"The final selection was left up to Mr Sullivan and we have a lot of respect for him, but that's a bit of a change of protocol and we have a bit of a different view and at the next meeting we'd like a bit of a discussion about it because we weren't greatly involved in the process."
The changes mean Bathurst-based hooker Benjamin John will play the majority of the match at number nine with Mortimer and Cooper making it an all-forward bench.
Wellington's Richard Peckham, who played off the bench behind Smith for Group 11, was overlooked for a utility role while McDermott also felt Parkes' Sam Dwyer was unlucky not to make the cut.
The late additions to the squad come on top of St Pat's star Gary Reilly and Mudgee duo Jack Afamasaga and Demetrius Anu originally selected without taking part in the cluster day.
Those decisions left McDermott questioning the importance of that trial match.
"We thought it was a selection trial and it should have been, they've picked people that didn't turn up and that's one issue because we've got a lot of up and coming players who could have filled in," he said.
"There's no doubts about Michael Sullivan's credentials, he's played NRL and done really well with Orange CYMS so we support him, but it's just not the process we would have followed.
"We'll still support them on Saturday, but we'd like a discussion about it."
In terms of the final team itself, McDermott said it was still an imposing lineup with the speed of the Dubbo CYMS-heavy back line and size up front a dangerous combination.
Western meet the Tigers at 2pm at Carrington Park.
WESTERN RAMS: 1 Ben McAlpine (Orange CYMS), 2 Kieran Cubby-Shipp (Dubbo CYMS), 3 Jyie Chapman (Dubbo CYMS), 4 Corin Smith (Mudgee Dragons), 5 John Grey (Dubbo CYMS), 6 Gary Reilly (Bathurst St Pat's), 7 Colby Pellow (Dubbo CYMS), 8 Simon Osborne (Orange CYMS), 9 Benjamin John (St Pat's), 10 Brandon Tago (Parkes Spacemen), 11 Justin Toomey-White (Wellington Cowboys), 12 Ben Maguire (Forbes Magpies), 13 Jack Afamasaga (Mudgee Dragons), 14 Jake Grace (Forbes Magpies), 15 Demitrius Ainnu (Mudgee Dragons), 16 Tim Mortimer (Orange CYMS), 17 Terawhiti Cooper (Blayney Bears), Michael Sullivan (coach).