Mcdonalds Park, Wagga Wagga will host the annual City-Country match between two sides riddled with stars such as James Maloney, Josh Jackson, Matt Moylan and Josh Reynolds on Sunday afternoon.
Both sides are stacked with contenders for State of Origin selection including Jack Wighton, James Maloney, Kade Snowden, Joel Thompson, Matt Moylan, James Roberts, Josh Reynolds and Wade Graham, with both teams plagued with New South Wales’ generation next.
It now seems that Laurie Daley is only assessing a few positions now and its clear one of the main positions he will be looking at is the battle of the halves.
What was at the beginning of the season an open slather to become the Blues’ halves pairing, the battle is now down two suitors – James Maloney/Mitchell Pearce (Sydney Roosters) and Josh Reynolds/Trent Hodkinson (Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs).
Although Pearce and Hodkinson missed out on selection, the battle in the halves will be sparked as Maloney and Reynolds will face off in what could potentially be their last chance at grabbing the New South Wales No. 6 jersey.
In the 89 meetings between the City and Country Origin teams since 1987, City have won on 13 occasions with Country coming away with 10 wins. The teams have drawn twice, including last year’s match when the people of Dubbo witnessed a 26-26 draw between the two representative outfits.
With the likes of Matt Moylan and Josh Reynolds, City have a host of stars hoping to be selected by Laurie Daley for the 2015 State of Origin series in May. Reynolds and Raiders half, Blake Austin, will have to step up to prove themselves ready to take on the biggest arena of all and will look to steer City to a close win.
It is very hard to separate both teams however; Country coach Trent Barrett will field a very experienced team which could potentially lead to Country edging City in what will no doubt be a close encounter. With the likes of Dale Finucane, Kade Snowden, Joel Thompson and Josh Jackson, Country will look to use their size up front to demolish their opposition and come away with the win.
Prediction: City by 2.
Team Lists:
Country – 1 David Mead 2 Akuila Uate 3 Jarrod Croker 4 Jack Wighton 5 James McManus 6 James Maloney 7 Jarrod Mullen 8 Dale Finucane 9 Ryan Hinchcliffe 10 Kade Snowden 11 Joel Thompson 12 Tyson Frizell 13 Josh Jackson
Interchange: 14 Jack Bird 15 Paul Vaughan 16 Tariq Sims 17 Ryan James 18 Shannon Boyd
City – 1 Matt Moylan 2 James Tedesco 3 James Roberts 4 Waqa Blake 5 Daniel Tupou 6 Josh Reynolds 7 Blake Austin 8 Andrew Fifita 9 Nathan Peats 10 David Klemmer 11 Curtis Sironen 12 Wade Graham 13 Tyrone Peachey
Interchange: 14 Joseph Paulo 15 Reagan Campbell-Gillard 16 Kane Evans 17 Jason Clark 18 Bryce Cartwright
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