HASTINGS League representative coach Rod Franklin will look to Comboyne hooker Dean Hurrell to lead the way against Group 4 on Saturday.
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Hurrell has been selected as captain of the side which will feature four of his Comboyne teammates.
“Dean is an experienced player who is in the middle of the park and has the ability to get the boys listening,” Franklin said.
Franklin expects the Hastings League side to give their Group 4 second division counterparts plenty of headaches.
“They’re probably a bit lucky in that they’ve got twice as many sides to pick from and in Wee Waa and Werris Creek they have two sides who have played in the first division as well,” he said.
“But in saying that, I think they might take us lightly and I think we’ve picked a really strong lineup.”
The coach mentioned Reuben Dufty and Matt Carter as players who he wanted to see receive plenty of ball.
“We need to complete our sets and play it up their end, but we also want to get it out to our speed blokes as well,” he said.
Franklin said everyone in the side had a different role to play and he was looking forward to seeing them test themselves against quality opposition.
“The boys won’t die wondering and they’ll throw the ball around,” Franklin said.
For Hurrell, it’s about bringing a level of energy to the side from his position at hooker.
“It’s also about keeping the boys calm,” he said.
“I want to be energetic and bring that up-tempo style of footy to run the Group 4 boys around a bit. We want to play the game down at their end of the field and play mistake-free.”
He said being named as skipper was a great privilege.
“It means a lot because we’ve got other blokes in the team who have played rep footy before and they’re all respected players,” he said.
“We had a decent training run during the week so we can’t wait to get out there.”
The Group 4 team will have the added burden of having to travel to Wauchope on the morning of the game, something not lost on Hurrell.
“I’ve done that before and it’s not a lot of fun,” he said.
The match kicks off at 2pm at Lank Bain Sporting Complex.