HAMILTON coach Marty Berry admitted it was a hard decision but he plans to start players returning from the Wildfires against unbeaten Hunter Rugby Union competition leaders Merewether at Townson Oval on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Steve Lamont (hooker), Faavae Sila (prop), Tiueti Asi (breakaway) and wingers Hamish McKie and Mike Saili have been named to take on the Greens.
A number of others will feature on the bench.
The Shute Shield has been suspended until at least July 17 due to the COVID lockdown in Sydney.
There was confusion among the clubs contacted by the Newcastle Herald on Friday over which players were eligible to feature in the local competition.
At the very least, Wildfires players who have an association with a Hunter club have been cleared to play. If they are home-grown or have spent more than three seasons at the club, they are worth zero in the player points system. New players are worth three points. The top six clubs have 16 points available.
"They will be starting," Berry said. "It is pretty hard on the guys who have been playing, but they are pretty understanding. They want to do what is best for the club.
"The boys coming in all know what we do here at the Hawks. Those boys are staunch Hawks and are available. It was definitely a hard decision, but we are looking at what is best for the club. They have had a couple of training sessions. They are quality players and it is a pleasure to coach them, as it is the ones we have got."
Merewether welcome back front-rowers Dave Puchert and Kye Marshall. They are a different scenario. They have been given releases from the Wildfires and plan to play the remainder of the season with the Greens. However, they are not eligible to play finals.
"They have been in and around the club for most of the season," Merewether coach Jamie Lind said. "Dave did the whole pre-season with us. Whenever he wasn't with the Wildfires, he was with us. It is good to have those guys around but we are not going to win a premiership with them. They are not eligible for finals. We have to plan around it. They will get a bit of game time when it suits. I have been pretty happy with our front-rowers."
Merewether came from 12-0 to pip Hamilton 21-19 in their first encounter.
"My message to our guys is to play our rugby," Lind said. "We have eight wins but there have been a few that have been by a handful of points. In other years we have been on the other side of those."
In other games Saturday, Wanderers take on Maitland at Marcellin Park and University are home to Singleton.
Wildfires coach Scott Coleman proposed a draft system in the pre-season that would have prevented the current predicament. Under the draft, new players to the city would have been allocated to clubs. Players already aligned with clubs would return to those clubs.
As it stands, some Wildfires will get much-needed game time and others like vice captain Kirk Tufuga, and fly-half Nate De Thierry will not.
IN THE NEWS:
- NSW COVID-19 cases: Gladys Berejiklian calls 31 infections 'concerning'
- Scott Morrison lays out COVID-19 four-phase plan after national cabinet
- John Barilaro says NSW Nationals ready to 'fight' Liberals over Newcastle port container terminal
- Newcastle triathlete Aaron Royle selected for second Olympic Games
- Bayswater fly ash slurry leak sparks NSW EPA fine for AGL Macquarie
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark: newcastleherald.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
James Gardiner
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
James Gardiner, chief football and rugby writer at the Newcastle Herald.
