Tragedy has rocked reigning Group 4 champions West Lions in the leadup to Saturday night’s big Hazelton Cup top of the table showdown with Moree Boars at Burt Jovanovich Oval, Moree.
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On Tuesday night the club was stunned when 21-year-old Kim Thomas died suddenly at the Lions’ training session.
Her brothers, Jake and Brett Thomas, both play for the Lions and she was at training with her boyfriend, first grade centre Rangi Davis, when she had a sudden seizure.
Club trainer Brian Edgecock performed CPR before an ambulance arrived to ferry her to hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
It was a shocking event, which demoralised club officials and players.
Training was cancelled as West coaches Tony La Chiusa and Mick Schmiedel accompanied her brothers to hospital to hear the grim news.
“We didn’t know what was going on at first,” Schmiedel said yesterday.
“Rangi said one minute she was giggling and laughing and the next minute she was having a fit,” he said.
“It’s devastating for Jake and Brett and the family. Unbelievable something like this could happen to such a nice young girl. It’s a real reality check.”
The death has rocked the club with Davis now bracketed with Adam Knee in the centres for Saturday’s game against Moree.
Outstanding lock Shane O’Donoghue will be out of action for between two to six weeks after injuring his right shoulder early in last Saturday night’s win over Werris Creek.
The two unbeaten sides are duelling for the top spot and likely premiership favouritism after winning starts to their season.
Moree has beaten Wee Waa (30-20), Narrabri (50-22) and Coonabarabran (52-24) in its three competition games to date.
West Lions have wins over North Tamworth (22-20), Gunnedah (36-16) and an 11-man Werris Creek (50-6) so far.
Recent history has been emotional between the two clubs with Moree upsetting the Lions to win the 1999 grand final at Scully Park in Tamworth while West helped end Moree’s premiership chances last year on their way to a 2000 title.
Moree coach Matt Ryan is certain Saturday’s confrontation will be just as intense as any over the past two seasons, especially for his new-look side.
“We got Wee Waa early in the season and the other two sides (Narrabri and Coonabarabran) were struggling with numbers,” he said yesterday.
“So it’s a real big test for us. We’ve also got to play well at home and make other sides worried about coming here. We struggled to do that last year.”
While Moree has played well in patches, Ryan is concerned about lapses during games.
“We can’t afford that against Wests,” he said.
“While I’m quietly confident, we’ve got to be prepared and make it a big test for West as well.”
The Boars trained well on Tuesday night despite copping a bucketing from a storm.
Ryan has named an unchanged side but will monitor a couple of players this week and settle on a team tonight. Centre Ricky McGrady is causing concern after playing just five minutes last Sunday before retiring with a recurring hamstring injury.
MOREE RANBUILD BOARS: 1 Luke Raveneau, 2 Perry Duncan, 3 Ricky McGrady, 4 Alex Barker, 5 Grantley Creighton, 6 Brett McGrady, 7 Ewan McGrady (capt), 8 Jason Darcy, 9 Adam McMahon, 10 Paul Raveneau, 11 Col Marchant, 12 Tony Murray, 13 Steve Ravenau, 14 Daniel Hobday, 15 Barry McGrady, 16 Jeremy Ritchie, 17 Morgan Bell, 18 Gavin Davis.
WEST LIONS: 1 Will Jerrard, 2 Dean Hoy, 3 Rangi Davis/Adam Knee, 4 Nick Leonard, 5 Adam Knee/Andrew Loveday, 6 Mark Frankel, 7 Mick Schmiedel, 8 Brad McManus, 9 Darren Coleman, 10 Adam Pascoe, 11 Chris Allen, 12 Adam Miller, 13 Brad Smith, 14 John Uren, 15 Alan Austin, 16 Mick Clarke.
