Maitland Blacks junior Patrick Dellit and former Maitland Pickers player Darcy Etrich will line up for the NSW Country Eagles in the inaugural National Rugby Championship.
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Dellit and Etrich are part of the Eagles franchise that will tackle the Greater Sydney Rams at Coogee Oval on Saturday but the opening match will take place tonight at Ballymore with Brisbane City hosting the Sydney Stars.
The NRC is aimed at introducing new teams, trialing new rules and providing players with new opportunities.
Following where the defunct Australian Rugby Championship failed after just one season in 2007, it’s hoped the new-look competition can close the gap between club rugby and Super Rugby, offering recovering stars and up-and-coming talent somewhere to shine.
Wallabies Quade Cooper and Will Genia, both part of the Brisbane City squad, will not feature in the opening match against the Stars but are expected to make their return from injury during the nine-round competition.
Instead the Brisbane team will kick off under the guidance of coach and former Test prop Nick Stiles, with seven players in their line-up having experienced Super Rugby.
With Ben Tapuai and Liam Gill joining Reds teammates Cooper and Genia on the sidelines, Stiles has drawn heavily on youngsters and those performing in Brisbane’s Premier Rugby competition for his inaugural line-up.
He thinks that’s exactly what the NRC should be about.
“We need to bridge the gap from club rugby to Super Rugby as much as possible,” Stiles said.
“This pathway with NRC is crucial to that. To upskill players like Michael Gunn, Adam Korczyk, Andrew Ready is just invaluable.
“We’ll see the benefits to this competition for a long time to come.”
Jeremy Tilse, Paddy Ryan and skipper Patrick McCutcheon in the forwards, as well as Michael Hodge and Peter Betham in the backline, are members of the Super Rugby champion Waratahs squad included in the Stars team which is heading north.
Thursday’s game will also be a chance for fans to witness the new points system and rules being used throughout the competition.
Penalties and drop goals have been reduced to just two points while a try conversion will now be worth three points.
There will also be time limits for scrum formation and kicks at goal in an effort to speed up the match.
Thursday’s match kicks off at 7.30pm with the Canberra Vikings hosting Perth Spirit on Saturday.
The opening round concludes on Sunday with the Melbourne Rising taking on the North Harbour Rays in Melbourne.
