For their respective Orange City and Centennials Bulls outfits virtually everything is on the line in Wednesday night’s final Royal Hotel Cup fixture of 2017, but for Lachlan and Josh Coyte the clash is about so much more than winning and losing.
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It’s about bragging rights as well, as the brothers prepare to square-off for the very first time.
Naturally, with one win and one loss apiece, the fact both sides are virtually playing to keep their finals hopes alive just adds to the tension, the drama, the buzz – as Bill Lawry would so eloquently say.
“I’m going to knock his head off,” Josh laughed.
“I’ve already told Andrew Brown, our skipper, if he comes out to bat I want the ball. I’ve told Lachie that too, although, he fired straight back and said he’s going to hit me for six so he’s giving as good as he gets.
“Obviously I’ll never let him live it down if I do get him out, and he’ll never let me live it down if he does hit me for six. I hope I do get the chance to bowl to him though.
“It’ll be good, it should be a lot of fun. We’ve never played against each other before and you never know, we might never get to again, so we’re both looking forward to it.”
Josh, 19, is in his first season with Centennials after playing with Penrith in Sydney’s grade system last summer, he also acted as Centrals’ marquee in 2016-17.
Lachie, 15, is in his first full senior season and has cemented his spot as the Warriors’ gloveman.
“Centennials is a really good club, I’ve really enjoyed my time here so far. I knew a lot of the boys from the [Bathurst Bushrangers] anyway, and I feel like I’ve been playing pretty good cricket,” Josh said.
“One big thing is I’m batting a lot higher. I’ve always been a bowling all-rounder and batted low, so I’ve enjoyed having more of a chance to bat, as well as bowl.
“It’s great to see Lachie doing well, I’m definitely proud of him, especially him making his representative debut last week.”
Wednesday night’s clash is somewhat of a reunion for Bulls’ hard-hitter Josh Toole too, he’s been the Warriors’ marquee player for the past two seasons and was set to turn out in green again this summer, until Centennials nominated.
“I guess you could say it’s weird in a way, coming to play against them now, but I’m looking forward to it and I’m sure they are too,” Toole said.
I'm going to knock his head off ... if he comes out to bat, I want the ball.
- Centennials all-rounder Josh Coyte
“They need to win, we need to win, they’ve got some really good cricketers and we’ve got a few handy guys as well. It should be a really good game.
“We’ve had some pressure put on us, but that certainly didn’t have an impact in the loss (to Lithgow). It just wasn’t a good show and we didn’t have enough runs on the board.
“Hopefully I can get us away to a decent start, and we’ll put a few more up on Wednesday.”
Wednesday night’s blockbuster kicks off at 6.30pm.
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.
