With big Joseph Ualesi sidelined with a knee injury he suffered in last week's win over Oberon Orange CYMS prop Cam Jones is taking it upon himself to shut down Bathurst Panthers' biggest weapon, his front-row counterpart Brent Seager.
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As it usually is Panthers' pack has been their strength in 2019 and Seager is the focal point of that group, the reigning Dave Scott Medal winner has been in powerful form in the men in black's run to the top of the Group 10 premier league ladder and stopping him is a key to taking the defending premiers down.
That's a job Jones said he has to do as CYMS' "senior front-rower" this weekend, or at the very least try to because it is far easier said than done.
He's probably the best prop in the competition and stopping his go-forward is pretty important.
- CYMS' Cam Jones, on Panthers' Brent Seager
"He's probably the best prop in the competition and stopping his go-forward is pretty important, stopping all their forwards is really," Jones said.
"Joey Duffy comes up into the front-row with me this weekend and of the two of us I guess I am the senior front-rower, so I don't really have a choice in taking that job on, but it's a challenge I look forward to every time we play Panthers.
"It's a job we didn't do last time we played them either. We knew what we had to do there and we didn't, they rolled over the top of us so we'll have to learn from that one and make sure we front up this weekend."
The last time the two sides met was back in round four at Wade Park, with Panthers securing an easy 46-12 win after what is largely considered CYMS' worst performance of 2019.
That defeat was part of a disappointing run for the green and golds, after losing to Panthers they suffered three more defeats in the next four weeks but as their then-injured stars have returned they've built nicely since.
They roll into Sunday's clash on the back of three consecutive victories, all big ones, that have helped push them into the competition's top four.
Not only would a victory over Panthers send an emphatic message to their rivals, it could also help them cut into the six-point buffer Mudgee have over them in third, should Hawks lend them a hand and knock the Dragons off.
"We've had pretty much our full-strength side on the paddock the last few weeks and that's made a big difference, we're starting to get some consistency back," Jones said, with Ualesi's absence the only change from last week's win over Oberon.
"We have got ourselves in a bit of a tricky spot in that we need to win most of the games we've got left but it's just about building on what we've been doing well in the last few weeks."
CYMS' clash with Panthers on Sunday kicks off at 2.45pm, at Bathurst's Carrington Park.
ORANGE CYMS: 1 Lachie Munro, 2 Trav Adelehorf, 3 Dom Maley, 4 Ben McAlpine, 5 Jacob Sutherland, 6 Steve Morris, 7 Luke Petrie, 8 Cam Jones, 9 Ryan Griffin, 10 Joe Duffy, 11 Chris Grevsmuhl, 12 Ethan Bereyne, 13 Tim Mortimer; Bench: 14 Aiden Baker, 15 Robbie Mortimer.
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.
