Both the Canberra Raiders and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs will be active on the Far South Coast this week.
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Meet and greets, catch ups and open-to-the-public captain’s runs will be the name of the game ahead of Saturday’s NRL trial clash.
The Raiders get into town first with a training session from 9am at the Pambula Sporting Complex and a second at the Bega Recreation ground on Friday from 10am.
“We want to buy into the community, all of our training sessions will be open so we would love to see a lot of kids come out and meet the players,” coach Ricky Stuart said.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs arrive Thursday and will open with a meet and greet session from 4-6pm at the Pambula Surf Life Saving Club.
They will then have a public captain’s run training session at the Tathra Beach Country Club from 10.30am until 11.30am.
Adam Elliott, Aiden Tolman and Kerrod Holland will also be at Tarra Kia in Bega from 4 to 5pm on Friday.
The ‘Dogs will also enjoy some barefoot bowls in Merimbula on Friday night.
Officials said both clubs would try and accommodate photos and autographs after their training runs.
Both clubs will also visit some local schools, while Ricky Stuart will be part of a coaching workshop at the Civic Centre on Thursday night.
Register at https//learn.playnrl.com
The clash between the two clubs will be at 5pm at the Bega Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Tickets are available from a number of local stores or the Raiders online shop with a flat rate or $15 per person.
A list of stockists and the link to the raiders store are available in this article
Raiders announce players
Ricky Stuart is standing by his desire to bring Canberra’s “best 20” to Bega.
The likes of Jarrod Croker, Josh Hodgson, Aidan Sezer, Josh Papalii, Elliott Whitehead, Nick Cotric and Sia Soliola will all have their first hit out for the season, while Joe Tapine will back up from his strong performance for the Maori All-Stars on Friday night.
Michael Oldfield, Joey Leilua, John Bateman and Jordan Rapana will miss the match with injury, but all players with the exception of Jordan Rapana will be available for selection in round one.
“I was very pleased with how our younger players performed against Parramatta’s NRL players,” Stuart said. “The team we take to Bega will be our strongest team that we have available.”
“We will be looking to give our main squad around 60 minutes and we will be looking to field our strongest team while we’re down there.”
Stuart said he was leaving some options open that will give a number of the club’s younger players the opportunity to back up from Friday nights trial win against the Eels, with Corey Horsburgh, Hudson Young, Ryan Sutton, Bailey Simonsson, Seb Kris and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad all selected for the Bega trial.
Experienced players Sam Williams and Luke Bateman will also play a part on Saturday.
“What I really like about our squad is that there is a lot of young players coming through pushing a couple of our senior players which is really healthy competition,” Stuart said.
Raiders Squad (Alphabetical)
Luke Bateman
JJ Collins
Nick Cotric
Jarrod Croker ©
Emre Guler
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
Seb Kris
Siliva Havili
Josh Hodgson ©
Corey Horsburgh
Royce Hunt
Deam Matterson
Jack Murchie
Josh Papalii
Tony Satini
Aidan Sezer
Bailey Simonsson
Sia Soliola
Tom Starling
Harley Smith-Shields
Ryan Sutton
Joe Tapine
Matt Timoko
Elliott Whitehead
Jack Wighton
Sam Williams
Hudson Young
