BATHURST Panthers will be looking to earn a passage straight through to the Group 10 first division grand final when they take on Orange CYMS in the major semi-final in Orange tomorrow.
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The minor premiers will go into this year’s finals series as deserved competition favourites and retain a number of players from the side which took out the premiership two seasons ago.
But they are facing a CYMS team who have been close to the top of the ladder all year and crucially, boast a strong victory over Panthers in their last meeting back in round 13.
On that occasion they won 34-16, turning the tables on Panthers who won their first clash 30-10.
Panthers captain-coach Aaron Bell knows what his side is up against.
“They were the best team we came up against all year, for sure,” he said. “They really gave it to us in that second match, although in our defence we played that game with only one guy on the bench, so that made it pretty hard for us. Still, they are a quality side and I’m expecting them to give us a massive test again this time.”
Like any club, CYMS have benefitted in the lower grades from the performance of the premier league team whose strength is comfortably demonstrated in their second tier outfit.
Players like Des Knight and Ryan Previtt especially bring a lot of top-grade experience and will be the driving force for their team’s forward pack.
Bell thinks he has the players at his disposal to handle it, though.
“They are a pretty big team and like to operate through the middle, they get a lot of go-forward out of players like Knight and Previtt,” he said.
“But I think our defence is our real strength and we can slow them down. We aren’t a big side by any stretch but we defend well because we move up quickly and get in the opposition’s face before they get much room.
“Before the week off at the start of the semis, we were building nicely and had put together three or four pretty good games.
“We weren’t always playing our best but we were finding ways to win, and then we were able to put a big score on Hawks in the final round, so I think that stands us in good stead for the last few games of the year.”
Team stability has been a big factor in Panthers’ good run of form and they will only make one major alteration to their line-up for Sunday with Callum Young set to come into the squad having finished the home-and-away season playing premier league.
Panthers and CYMS meet from 1pm tomorrow at Wade Park.
BATHURST PANTHERS: 1 Josh Small, 2 Callum Young, 3 Jason Hewitt, 4 Scott Comerford, 5 JD Campbell, 6 Aaron Bell, 7 Trent Hotham, 8 Pat McGarry, 9 Nick Loader, 10 Rhys Potter, 11 John Loughlin, 12 Jayden Gibbs-O’Neill, 13 Michael Wicks, 14 Aaron Behan, 15 Dan Hemming, 16 Jordan Naylor, 17 John Griffiths, 18 Brian Moss, 19 Stan Latu
