Narrabri’s pre-season will have an international flavour this year.
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The Blue Boars will next month embark on an 11-day tour of the USA and Canada.
Touring is a long-standing tradition for the club both within Australia and abroad.
Assistant secretary Daniel Kahl said they like to do a tour every four years or so.
Their most recent overseas trip was in 2013 where they enjoyed an undefeated tour of the England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
They have previously toured the US but haven’t been to Canada.
The 23-strong squad is a mix of first and second grade players.
After landing in San Francisco on February 28 they will tackle The Olympic Club on Treasure Island on March 2.
From there they move on to Seattle to play the Valley Kangaroos on March 5 before making their way up to Vancouver where their final game will be against the Bayside Sharks on March 8.
Kahl said the idea of the tours are to try and provide opportunities for the players outside of just playing footy.
“There’s a few first-timer travellers, it should be a great experience for them,” he said.
“Playing different teams, playing in different conditions and being in that team environment for an extended period of time should be really good for the group.”
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“The last tour we came home and first grade played in four straight grand finals. We’re hoping that we can provide similar development opportunities to the group back then.”
The clubs they will be playing are a similar size to them, and Kahl is expecting “competitive but appropriately social” games.
“They are coming towards the end of their season so will be in pretty decent nick,” he said.
“We should be fit but will be a bit rusty.”
The touring party started training last Thursday.
The club is coming off a strong 2018 with second grade capturing their first premiership since 2011, the under-19s and women’s sides performing well in their first years and first grade bowing out in the elimination final.
Kahl said the first grade squad is shaping up pretty well for the upcoming season.
They have had “minimal” player losses at this stage and have had a couple of handy pick-ups with Jacob Nichols coming across from league and Sam Knight returning home from Armidale.
They are also looking to get an under-19s side up again while the women’s 7s side have welcomed a few new faces.
“There’s about half a dozen new players amongst the girls, which is good,” Kahl said.
They will in the lead-up to the season play at the Inverell and Lake Macquarie Sevens.