Saints 17s set sail for ‘cross conference’ Tamworth

Jaymus Troutman gets a kick away for Sawtell/Toormina. Photo: Green Shoots Marketing

SAWTELL/TOORMINA’S Under 17 team will be up bright and early on Saturday morning so they can get to their game of football on time.

The Saints boys are travelling to Tamworth on Saturday to play against the Tamworth Roosters in the first of twelve ‘cross conference’ matches to be played against AFL North West teams.

Sawtell/Toormina, the Coffs Breakers and Grafton will all have their turn playing in these live Under 17 matches for four premiership points.

With the first five of these fixtures coming in the next five rounds, Grafton and Breakers won’t have to wait long for their turn to face a new foe.

UPCOMING CROSS CONFERENCE FIXTURES

• Round 5 – Tamworth Roosters v Sawtell/Toormina Saints at No. 1 Oval, Tamworth
• Round 6 – Grafton Tigers v Glen Innes Celts at Ellem Oval, Grafton
• Round 7 – Inverell Saints v Coffs Breakers at Varley Oval, Inverell
• Round 8 – Grafton Tigers v Inverell Saints at Ellem Oval, Grafton
• Round 9 – Sawtell/Toormina Saints v Tamworth Roosters at Richardson Park, Sawtell

The remaining fixtures will be played in rounds 11, 13, and 15. Keep an eye on the fixtures for these clashes.

Saints coach Matt Anderson said the team will be meeting at Richardson Park well before the sun comes up so they can travel together as a group.

“We’re planning on meeting at Richo at about 5.30, have a bit of a warm up and then get going,” Anderson said.

“The game starts at 11am and Tamworth have been really good moving some times around to accommodate us.”

The Saints will have a squad of 16 heading over the mountains but the coach said a group of them were going to be in Tamworth anyway.

“We’ve got a group of players who are very talented at a variety of sports and five of our boys are going to be in Tamworth anyway playing basketball,” he said.

“They’re going to play basketball in the morning, then come to the ground and play for us then go and play basketball for the rest of the afternoon.”

Whilst the nearly 600km round trip is a big effort, it’s actually 100km less than travelling from one end of our own region to another (Lismore/Casino to Port Macquarie).

Anderson said the travel isn’t a burden for the team as the players are excited to be facing a new opponent.

“We’ve been playing against Grafton and the Breakers for a couple of years now so we’re really keen to play against Tamworth,” he said.

“The boys are really keen for that, something different.”

Paul Taylor​, Northern NSW Community Football & Competition Manager, said what Anderson outlined is exactly why the matches were introduced this year.

“It’s about giving the boys more matches, but not just playing against the same teams over and over. The variety is almost more important than the quantity,” Taylor said.

“You only need to look at the cross conference matches the senior teams played against the Northern Rivers sides a couple of years ago and the growth that’s come from that.

“Now the 17s get to play against more teams and this should contribute to growth in that comp as well.”