Cherrypickers ready for Cootamundra

Following the general round bye last weekend, the Young Cherrypickers are gearing up to take on the Cootamundra Bulldogs this weekend across four grades. While the competition had a general bye over the weekend, the Cherrypickers hosted their men's luncheon which was described as extremely successful with 290 guests. The special guest for the lunch was Laurie Daley who spoke about some of his stories from the old days and provided insights into the Origin series. Young Cherrypickers' Andrew Smith said this was good to get him fresh off the Origin series and it was quite interesting to hear. With it coming to the business end of the season, Mr Smith said it will be a big rivalry match between them and Cootamundra and is primed to be a good match. He said they are expecting Cootamundra will be coming out of the gates hard as they are playing in front of a home crowd and Cootamundra are looking to get back into the winners circle following a loss to Tumut. With three matches left in the season, four grades of the Cherrypickers are still in the running for the finals series, with the reserve, 18s and first grade still in with a chance, and the women's tackle squad having booked their spot in the finals. Mr Smith said they are hoping they can get four grades across the line to play finals this year and are looking to have some strong results for their last three games of the main season. In the first grade ladder, Mr Smith said the ladder is pretty tight with Gundagai and Temora sitting three points ahead of them. With the Cherrypickers still having to play Gundagai before the finals series, Mr Smith said if they finish the season strong with three wins they have the chance to finish in the top two spots, which is a strong motivation. Mr Smith noted every side has the chance of taking the win on the day and with Young seeing a more settled side in the last few weeks, it has been pleasing to see some of their combinations come together and score some points.