Injuries and suspension may have caused some reshuffles but Group 11 coach Brent Wood has still been handed a Group 11 side loaded with premiership winners and representative experience.
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The Group 11 senior, under 18s and league tag squads were announced on Sunday night ahead of Saturday's representative battle with Group 10 at Blayney's King George Oval.
The senior side features a number of new faces, among those former Queensland Cup player Billy Gilbert and 2022 NRL Victoria representative player of the year Takitau Mapapalangi.
Given the quality of Group 11 sides this Peter McDonald Premiership season - Dubbo CYMS is unbeaten, Nyngan, Parkes and Wellington have won two-from-three and Macquarie and Forbes have each only lost once - competition for spots was fierce.
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Some decisions were taken out of selectors hands, with Macquarie captain-coach Jack Kavanagh currently suspended and former Western Rams halves Nick Greenhalgh and Chad Porter unavailable due to injury and being out of the country respectively.
Western co-captains Justin Toomey-White and Alex Ronayne will lead Group 11 as well and they will be joined in the back-row by Rams teammate and Parkes star, Will Wardle.
"It's always good to be a part of Group 11," Ronayne said.
"It's something you play footy for, this representative footy so it's always nice to be a part of.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Places in the forward pack were hotly-contested and while the back-rowers demanded selection after playing for Western this year, there was a host of front-rowers in contention.
It was consistent Wellington performer Mac Dutfield and Forbes premiership winner Charlie Lennon who got the nod to start while Mapapalangi and CYMS' Tom Stimpson were named on the bench alongside versatile duo Corey Cox and Tyrone Tattersall.
Mitch Andrews beat out Jeremy Thurston for the hotly-contested fullback position, with the CYMS star named in the centres alongside Cale Dunn instead.
Alex Bonham will revert from hooker at club side CYMS back to five-eighth for Group 11 and he'll be joined in the halves by Josh Merritt, who has led Nyngan to a strong start to the new season.
Gilbert will play at hooker despite spending most of this season at lock for Macquarie.
Group 10 has sprung a surprise in its senior squad, with reserve grade player Nick Barlow from the Blayney Bears selected.
The squad is otherwise dominated by the unbeaten Mudgee Dragons but captain-coach Clay Priest misses out through injury.
Kimberlee Gordon of the Macquarie Raiders will coach the league tag side which features big names India Draper, Madi Drew and Demi Wilson while Trevor Mawhinney will lead the under 18s.
Nyngan, under 18s champions last year, is strongly represented in that side, with Fletcher Hunt and Cooper Black named in the halves, Will Black at fullback, Braith Boyd selected up front, and Harry Hammond on the bench.
Saturday's clash with mark the first Group 10 versus Group 11 clash since 2021 in Lithgow, with the division's eastern group coming up trumps to make it three wins in a row after victories in Forbes in 2019 and Bathurst in 2018.
The annual fixture in 2022 was meant to be played in September, but the timing of the fixtures forced the cancellation of those divisional contests last year.
- Group 11 first grade: 1 Mitch Andrews, 2 Josh Nixon, 3 Cale Dunn, 4 Jeremy Thurston, 5 Ash Widders, 6 Alex Bonham, 7 Josh Merritt, 8 Mac Dutfield, 9 Billy Gilbert, 10 Charlie Lennon, 11 Justin Toomey-White, 12 Alex Ronayne, 13 Will Wardle; Bench: 14 Takita Mapapalangi, 15 Tom Stimpson, 16 Corey Cox, 17 Tyrone Tattersall.
- Group 10 first grade: Corin Smith, Jake Durrant, Percy Stockton, Jayden Brown, Andrew Bain, Casey Burgess, Jack Beasley (Mudgee), Jake Betts, Jed Betts, Nick Tilburg, Dave Sellers (Panthers), Ethan McKellar (CYMS), Ash Cosgrove, Luke Single (St Pat's), Nic Barlow (Blayney), Riley Dukes, Dylan Dukes (Workies).
- Group 11 league tag: 1 India Draper, 2 Courtney Hodge, 3 Grace Pilon, 4 Katie Kelly, 5 Millie Gooch, 6 Jasmine Daley, 7 Madi Drew, 8 Demi Wilson, 9 Sophie Whiteman, 10 Lilli-Rai Campbell, 11 Breighel Thuell, 12 Emily Caton, 13 Shanique Darlington, 14 Claudia Whiteman, 15 Makayla McKeown.
- Group 11 under 18s: 1 Will Black, 2 Jake Roberts, 3 Michael Ross, 4 Malaki Folau, 5 Will Cuthill, 6 Cooper Black, 7 Fletcher Hunt, 8 Michael Coady, 9 Ajay Isbester-Boss, 10 Braith Boyd, 11 Will Edwards, 12 Dane Richards, 13 Matthew Duke; Bench: 14 Joden Porter, 15 Ryan Goodsell, 16 Harry Hammond, 17 Bailey Davis, 18 Ollie Davis.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
