The Greater Northern Tigers under-18 side face a tough draw in their Laurie Daley Cup campaign.
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The Tigers are pitted in a Northern pool that includes the Parramatta Eels' development squad.
“It will be a harder pool this year with Parra included,” said Tigers coach Peter Stevens.
“In saying that, though, we won’t be worrying about the opposition - just worry about what we do.
"Not having a trial might be a bit of a worry but we have trained very well. I’m very happy with what they’ve done … We’ll just have to grit our teeth and grind it out early. If we can match them early we’ll be all right.”
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His side faces Central Coast Roosters first up at Morrie Breen Oval, Wyong on Saturday. Sam Wentworth will skipper the Tigers from the second-row and will be a key player, Stevens said.
“He’s very solid, a very mature kid who will lead from the front," the mentor added.
“Stevie Dengate (halfback) and Trent Taylor (fullback) form a good combination too in the spine. I’ll be looking to them to steer us around. We do have a few younger age kids that are going well too, they’re all ready to go.”
The Tigers: 1 Trent Taylor (Dungowan), 2 Mackenzie Shepherdson (Denman), 3 Kyle Johnson (Dungowan), 4 Jhett Butler (Dungowan), 5 Harrison Freeman (Dungowan), 6 Brayden Reid (North Tamworth), 7 Steven Dengate (Muswellbrook), 8 Kalab McMillan- Bassett (Narrabri), 9 Clay Frendin (Dungowan), 10 Jackson Shade (Singleton), 11 Cooper Harris (Dungowan), 12 Sam Wentworth (Dungowan) CAPT, 13 Blake Trees (Singleton), 14 Kobe Bone (North Tamworth), 15 Daniel Kelly (North Tamworth), 16 Hugh Collins (Aberdeen), 17 Jalen Darcy (Scone), 18 Zak Turnbull (Gunnedah). Coach: Peter Stevens.