The Gunnedah Bulldogs will have four players in the Group 4 representative sides at the Greater Northern trials at Scone this Saturday.
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Hayden Smith and Dylan Lake will turn out for the men’s under 23 side while Jacqui Jones and Khobi Devine will play in the ladies league tag team.
Gunnedah first grade coach Sean Hayne said both under 23 players would hold their own for Group 4 while Bulldogs league tag coach Bob Price thought the same about the league tag players.
“Jacqui just came back from a stint [playing] in New Zealand last week,” Price said.
“We had a trial match against Bendemeer on April 7 and Khobi went well there as well, kicked a few goals for us.”
The two representative sides have new coaching staffs with Damien Allen and Dustin Munn in charge of the league tag side while Paul Hyson and Nathan Blacklock have been running training sessions for the under 23 side.
It’s Blacklock’s first time working with Group 4 and is enjoying the coaching stint.
“It’s good to get back into it,” he said.
“They’ve all got something special about them.”
As far as the two local teams go, both are shaping up well leading into the new season.
“We’ve only had one trial and we’re still working out a few combinations,” Hayne said.
“There’s a few new blokes so still working on what’s best for the team.
“Numbers have been good at training.
“We have a few shift workers but we’re getting 30 odd players to training.”