GROUP 19 president Mick Lewis spoke out against selection policies this week, when he said he thought Group 19 players in general were being left out.
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Lewis said not only will it cost players from the lower Tier 2 Country Championships places in touring Country sides, but the Greater Northern Tigers might also have been dealt a representative blow by the number of Tier 1 Illawarra and Newcastle players named in the Country Seconds side to tour Darwin.
“I think there’s a view at the Northern Division level that probably Group 21 and Group 4 are the stronger competitions,” Lewis said.
“I would dispute that. At the Northern Division trials this year we drew with Group 4 who went on to be the winners of the carnival.
“We only got the four players into the Northern Division squad of 18, and I would hope next year we might have more success.”
Lewis said he thought the Northern Division Tier 2 side did a good job, despite being defeated 32-22 by Riverina. “Inverell had three players who went through that carnival and they played very well,” he said.
Two ex-local players Mitch Porter and Chris Lewis now both attend university in Wollon-gong and gained selection in the Tier 1 Illawarra side that won the competition. Both players were named in the Country Firsts team to tour Fiji later in the year.
Lewis said that was a good indication of the standard of play in Group 19.
