Blue and White: Barwon Rockets

Under-18s

Coach – Bryan Thomas

2012-13 Finish – Qualifying Final

Under-16s

Coach – Mark Worthington

2012-13 Finish – Semi-Final

Under-14s

Coach – Luke Muller

2012-13 Finish – Champions

The Barwon Rockets have one eye on the future as they approach the up-coming Victorian Bushrangers Pathway Championships.

With all three sides dominated by bottom-aged players, Regional Cricket Manager Bruce Nunn believes team efforts will be required to achieve success.

“All our sides have quality players but we will need contributions from all our players,” Nunn said.

Nunn believes the lack of top-aged players will be felt most in the under-18s, but had faith in those who played last year to help the transition.

“We’ve got a very young team this year,” Nunn said.

“We’ve had a few other players unavailable due to other commitments so we used the opportunity to blood our youth and really develop their games.

“If we can find their competitive edge, it’ll hold the Barwon Rockets in good stead for the next carnival.”

Nunn asserted that despite missing several players, the quality of those selected were of a high standard.

“Luke Ford’s a player to watch,” he said.

“He’s coming back from a hip operation so hopefully he’ll be at full fitness and can have a good carnival.

“We’re also excited to see Nick Fairchild. He’s been a really good performer at Dowling Shield level, so we’ll be looking forward to seeing him take the next step.”

In the under-16s, Nunn stated a need for leaders to stand up.

“We’ll be looking for leadership from our skipper Byron Taylor, along with Luke Inglis and Matthew Bird,” Nunn said.

“We’ve got quite a few bottom age players and they got a wake-up call against Central Highlands a few weeks ago.

 “We have several big game players, like Jack Hodgson and Jordan Rossi, who both performed well last year.

“Hodgson was last year’s man-of-the-match in the under-14 Grand Final, so there’s plenty to work with there.”

The under-14s were champions last year after defeating the Northern Rivers, and Nunn sees no reason why their feat cannot be replicated.

“The vibe has been excellent at training and they’ve been tracking well,” Nunn said.

“They’ve prepared really well and have looked really strong during our practice games and hopefully that translates into the carnival.”