In a zone extending from Coffs Harbour in the north to Hawks Nest and the Myall Coast in the south to the Bucketts Range in the west, three past and present students from the school were chosen by the M.N.C. selectors in the representative Axemen Colts Under-19 squad for the N.S.W. Country championships in Armidale from May 7-8.

The trio, exciting utility back Ryan Yates, vigorous lock Ethan Hamilton and talented front rower Kenneth Wamsley, all appeared for M.N.C. Colts last Saturday at Old Bar’s gala carnival in three 25-minute trials from mid-morning until mid-afternoon, winning all three games.

Coaches Mark Hudson and David Birch are delighted with their squad, Hudson saying: “We have a particularly talented group this year. We’re very optomistic  of giving the championship a really good shake.”

The temperature made the carnival more suited to 20-Twenty cricket than rugby union before the Forster Tuncurry Dolphins and Wallamba Bulls emerged from the heat haze to establish co-favouritism for the Lower M.N.C. premiership which begins on Saturday week (16/4).

On a day when no cups were won but medals might have been struck for courage, the M.N.C. Axemen Colts and Hastings Valley Vikings were other teams to perform meritoriously enough to suggest they will enjoy successful winters.

Last year’s grand finalists, the Gloucester Cockies, appearing without retired match-winner, Jamie “Emu” Andrews, and perennial front-runners, the Manning River Ratz, were without key players and remain uncertain quantities.

The Forster Dolphins preferred playing an 80-minute game against the Upper M.N.C. club, the Kempsey Cannonballs, winning a valuable but exhausting affair, four tries to two and 22-12.

The Dolphins have had a disrupted pre-season, losing champion centre, Tom Harris, with a double torn hamstring muscle from a water skiing lesson which went wrong, goal-kicking wizard Lee Crozier with a dislocated shoulder and fullback Kurt Forester, recently appointed bar manager of the Bellevue Hotel.

New Dolphins arrivals to make a good impression, however, were mobile Welsh flanker, Tom Homer, and industrious utility forward, Nathan Laurie, while the halfback pairing of Liam Brady and skipper Matt Nuku continue to lead a smart back line in which centre Mark Hagarty and winger Jesse Logan tackled aggressively to close down Kempsey attacks.

The Wallamba Bulls have promised much for some time without having the depth of players to finish the season strongly. With a new coach in Lee Sullivan, Wallamba have some big men for their pack in a 30-man squad. Perhaps Sullivan will extract Chris Tout’s true gifts at five-eighth.

Impressive carnival performers for the Aaron Gordon-led Bulls were centres James Dinnan and Phil Entwistle and backrower Lee McDonald.

The Gloucester Cockies’ experienced captain, Chris Marchant, was generous in his praise of the Wallamba flankers, brothers Daniel and Rhys Hessing, eulogising M.N.C. representative Daniel as “pound for pound, one of the finest breakaways I have ever played against.”

 From Old Bar, Gloucester’s goal-kicking prop Mick Wooster has recruited his “little brother”, the 125kg prop, Mitch Wooster, to bulk up the Cockies’ scrum.