Phil Beaton can't stay away.
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Like a boomerang, the 35-year-old has returned to Group 4 after another retirement and will line up for Carey's Freight Lines in the opening clash of the inaugural Wests Entertainment Group 9s at Scully Park on Saturday night.
The three-time West Lions premiership winner - who last played in 2018, as a Rooster - said he decided to sign up for the WEG 9s after being told there was a player shortage
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"It's something that I want to see get off the ground ... I just thought I'd throw my name into the ring so they can get a few numbers," he said.
"I wouldn't say I'm very fit," he added, "but I'm excited to be pulling the boots on again: that itch is still there."
While Beaton acknowledged that 9s is "probably more of a younger, fitter guys game", he believed he could be effective because of his great experience; he would throw his "weight around a little bit".
To get in shape for the competition, Beaton plays touch football and has had a "couple" of training sessions with the Roosters under the side's 2019 coach Geoff Sharpe.
Beaton last came out of retirement in 2018, after hanging up the boots at the end of the 2016 season, and was among the best players in the competition as a hard-running prop.
Watching from the sidelines in 2019 was "pretty tough", he said, especially given the Roosters were beaten in the grand final by Norths - who won a sixth-straight premiership and broke the record set by a Lions dynasty that he was part of.
"I congratulate the guys that did it [for Kooty]. I just didn't have the commitment to be able to go another full 12 months."
Beaton's Carey's Freight Lines, who are captained by Brenton Cochrane, play the Mitch Doring-captained JT Fossey in the opening match of a four-match program on Saturday night.
Beaton said it would be '"pretty exciting" to play with Cochrane for the first time.
"Let's see how this goes first", he added, when asked if he would play a full season in 2021. "I wouldn't say no, but the body isn't getting any younger."
