Prop forward Ryan James has today spoken about the excitement he has ahead of the final trial match that will be played against the New Zealand Warriors in Palmerston North, this Sunday.
Coach Neil Henry will have the majority of his squad ready to go with the only players unavailable due to injury being Jarryd Hayne (knee), Konrad Hurrell (knee), Kevin Proctor (Knee) and Dan Sarginson (knee).
“There are a few guys injured but hopefully we can get out there and put our best foot forward this weekend,” James said.
Probably the most talked about competition this weekend will come in the halves with Kane Elgey, Tyrone Roberts and Ash Taylor all expected to spend some time in those positions throughout the trial.
“It’ll be good to get out there and obviously there is still that battle in the halves. I’m glad I’m not the one having to make the decision.”
All three players are coming off strong performances last weekend but the one with the most confidence may well be Taylor, who is coming off a week in camp with the Indigenous All-Stars where he basically shadowed Jonathan Thurston.
“It’ll definitely help (the time he spent with Thurston). Ash had a good week last week and he was copying everything JT (Thurston) did. Just the little things around training.
“Ash is only a kid and still has plenty to learn. I think he definitely benefited from the time spent in camp last week.
“Kane also had a good hit-out in Alice Springs and Tyrone certainly didn’t let anyone down in the All-Stars match either.”
