Two Macleay boys will be looking to create history by winning the first Country Championships Final for the East Coast Dolphins in Cessnock.
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Kaine Parkinson and Malachi Roberts will be competing for selection into the U16s Country side to tour New Zealand but their main focus is on a victory.
“We are up against a strong Western Rams side,” Roberts said.
“They are tough in the middle and it will be a battle but hopefully Kaine and I can exploit them on the edges.”
Parkinson watched the Rams defeat the Newcastle Rebels on Saturday and believes his team will have an advantage in a key area.
"They came out fast in the first half and put a lot of points on, but they were flat in the second half and allowed the Rebels back into it,” Parkinson said.
“They held on to win 36-34 but if we can weather the storm early, we will put ourselves in a good position to win.”
Five-eighth Parkinson and fullback Roberts are teammates for the Macleay U16s and have taken their combination into the Dolphins side.
“We have built up a good combination since we began playing together over a year ago,” Parkinson said.
“It has improved while training with the Dolphins for the past 8 months.”
The Dolphins U16s side advanced through to the final after a dominant 44-0 victory against the Bidgee Bulls in Saturday’s grand final.
Dolphins coach Joel McCafferty, a former Kempsey resident, says his side will be well prepared.
“We will do our homework on them and I will get the boys focused on their job,” McCafferty said.
The Rams side also has a connection with the Macleay.
“Their coach Kurt Hancock is also from Kempsey and was my coach coming through grade, he has a great knowledge of the game so they will be hard to beat,” McCafferty explained.
He had high praise for the contributions of the two Kempsey juniors.
“Kaine and Malachi have been a great asset for the Dolphins and played a role in getting us to the grand final.”
“It has been a whole group effort and any action performed is only to benefit the team instead of themselves.”
“Win or lose I'm very proud of the boys efforts and at the end of the day it's just another game of footy in a potential long career for them.”
Due to flood and severe weather warnings in the Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast creating unsafe travelling conditions for the East Coast Dolphins U16’s along with their families and supporters, the match has been postponed with a new date to be decided by Friday March 31.