While loathe to focus too hard on individual players, Orange Emus coach Steve Levett conceded there’s two in particular his side will need to shut down in Saturday’s Blowes Clothing Cup second grade preliminary final against Parkes – Johnny Rathbone and Israel Symington.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Both Central West Blue Bulls just a couple of years ago, halfback Rathbone and No.8 Symington have been mainstays in Parkes’ reserve grade side in 2016 and have led the Boars from fifth all the way to the season’s penultimate game.
“Those two are the main threats, but they’ll have other good players too, they’ve turned out a first grade quality side at times this year and have done really well to get this far from fifth,” Levett said.
“But we’re basically a first grade side too. Most of our guys have plenty of first grade experience, we’re blessed to have the likes of Steve Fergus (pictured), Alo Finau and Scotty McLean in second grade at the moment.
“It’s testament to the depth at Emus at the moment. Parkes are a good side, they beat us at Endeavour Oval last time around but we’re confident we can get the job done.”
If the greens can, they’ll score a spot in their third straight grand final. They’re coming off a tight 8-3 loss to Dubbo Kangaroos in last weekend’s major semi-final.
Parkes beat us last time around but we’re confident we can get the job done.
- Emus coach Steve Levett
“That’s what we want, that’s what every team strives for, a grand final spot,” Levett said.
“Our effort last weekend was good enough to compete with Dubbo, but we need to be better than that. Obviously being do-or-die it’s now or never, but we’ve addressed where we can improve and I’m sure we will.”
At this stage Saturday’s preliminary finals will be at Grinsted Oval but thanks to recent flooding Spooner Oval is also on standby.
Second grade kicks off at 1.30pm.
ORANGE EMUS: 1 Matt Findlay, 2 Keith Howarth, 3 Steve Fergus, 4 Harry Hamilton, 5 Alo Finau, 6 Jack Marchinton, 7 Jayden Norris, 8 Scott McLean, 9 Matt Clark, 10 Glen Maxwell, 11 Luke Ginns, 12 Billy Thompson, 13 Simon Thompson, 14 Derek Thompson, 15 James Simmons
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
