The Under 18 ‘Pickers headed to Anzac Park, Gundagai on Saturday where they trialled for the Group 9 representative side.

The boys were among the 16 teams to attend the trials from around the area, including Wagga, Cootamundra, Temora, Canberra and Albury.

The trial proceeded in a round-robin format under the watchful eye of judges who will select players for the representative side.

Young’s day kicked off at 12 noon against Cootamundra. Young were defeated 10-6 as they struggled to find their feet.

“They didn’t start well, but learnt from their mistakes and made a solid comeback in the second game,” assistant coach Dicky Campbell said.

He said the boys clicked as a team in the second match against Tuggeranong, winning 40-nil.

“Front rowers Jayke Hogan and Jake Walker got the team going forward and broke through the middle of the field,” Campbell said.

Young progressed through to the semi-final where they defeated Wagga Brothers in an intense match.

“This game was try-for-try and we ended up winning by two points in the last minute,” Campbell said.

The ‘Pickers faced off against Wagga South City in the grand final.

Despite several dropped balls early on in the game, Young had the upper hand going into second half, 18-10.

Wagga were able to score from a cross field kick inside the last five minutes to make it 18-16.

After several penalties by Young, South City broke Young’s line and scored on the buzzer to win a painfully close 20-18. 

Young finished third on the day.

“Everyone played really well and by the end of the day they were all playing as a team,” Campbell said.

“It’s a good setup for the rest of the season.”

According to Campbell, Young’s standout players were front row trio Jayke Hogan, Jesse Corcoran and Jake Walker.

Selections for Group 9’s Under 18 rep side is yet to be confirmed.

Young’s first grade Cherrypickers also got a run on the weekend when they came up against Tuggeranong at Keith Cullen Oval.

Tuggeranong got the upper hand on the ‘Pickers, snatching a 48-10 win.

According to captain-coach Luke Branighan the scoreline was no reflection of the match.

“We put a team together at the last minute - a lot of guys hadn’t trained together, and even though we were beat comfortably there was still plenty of positives to take out of the match,” he said.

The club’s new signings - Matt Wakefield, Carl Plannicka and Jayden Wakefield - received special mention for their efforts on Saturday.

With Round 1 against Tumbarumba only two weeks away on Sunday, April 12, Branighan believes the ‘Pickers will be a different team. 

“Obviously there’s aspects of our defense that we have to fix, but we really struggled in attack and that led to defending a lot more than we should've,” he said.

“I’m still confident we will do well this year - we will be back at full strength against Tumbarumba.”

With only two weeks until Round 1 the club continues to wait for immigration rulings for some off season signings. 

In the meantime Branighan encourages those interested in playing football to contact the club.