RILEY Cheshire began 2020 focused on becoming a regular in Mounties' Canterbury Cup side, but now the Bathurst league talent is crossing his fingers for time in the Ron Massey Cup.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last Friday New South Wales Rugby League announced that in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was cancelling nine competitions.
Amongst those was the Canterbury Cup, a competition which acts as a reserve grade to the NRL. Mounties are a feeder club for the Canberra Raiders.
It was a tough decision for the NSWRL board to make and hard news for Cheshire and his Mounties team-mates to hear.
The former St Pat's and Western Rams star linked with Mounties late last year after an injury hampered his season with former club Wests Tigers.
He tore his ankle ligaments at training, was sidelined for 12 weeks and only got limited game time following his recovery.
"I only got about five games in last year, so I'm keen to get some footy in. After I did my injury all I did was running and rehab to get as fit as I could, I was in the best shape of my life and still couldn't get a crack," he said.
"So I'm itching to get a good crack here at Mounties, they welcomed me with open arms."
The talented back rower began pre-season training with Mounties in the first week of November and was looking forward to what 2020 would bring.
But after just one completed round, the Canterbury Cup was cancelled.
"I was hoping to get a crack in Canterbury Cup, I'd had that injury so I was working my way through the ranks, playing a bit of Ron Massey," he said. "It's a lot more physical and heaps faster than the other footy I've played, it's like Group 10 footy but there's a lot more to the technical side of it and it's faster.
"When they first cancelled training they said come back on the first of May, but now I don't know what to expect."
While Cheshire's Canterbury Cup bid is now on hold until 2021, he is hoping that the Ron Massey Cup will go ahead and he can see game time with Mounties.
NSWRL has not yet made a decision on that competition, which this year consists of 10 teams from the Sydney metropolitan area as well as Fiji's Kaiviti Silktails.
"I can still play Ron Massey, that's my last option. If they cancel that then I don't get to play for the rest of the year I guess," Cheshire said.
"No-one knows really what will happen.
"It's pretty tough because footy is a good way of getting money so I can afford to live in Sydney, prices up here are through the roof."
